Avian flu threatens South Africa’s poultry industry

While the animal health authorities in the Philippines believe that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry has been brought under control, there have been high-level discussions with the poultry industry in South Africa on how to tackle the worsening disease situation there.

(Yurii Bukhanovskyi | Bigstock)
(Yurii Bukhanovskyi | Bigstock)

While the animal health authorities in the Philippines believe that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry has been brought under control, there have been high-level discussions with the poultry industry in South Africa on how to tackle the worsening disease situation there.

Italy and Taiwan have also reported new HPAI outbreaks in poultry over the last week.

There has been one further human case of H7N9 avian flu in China.

Africa: High-level discussions over avian flu in South Africa

Last week, South Africa’s agriculture minister, Senzeni Zokwana, met with representatives of the poultry industry to discuss solutions and strategies to tackle the country’s avian flu situation.

“The current outbreak is threatening the existence of the South African poultry industry as well as jobs in the sector,” according to the Agriculture Department press release.

The department is currently drawing up guidelines on compensation for affected producers, and the use of vaccination is under consideration. It is also weighing up whether to allow the import of hatching eggs to restore the poultry population.

According to Department’s reports to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the number of outbreaks of H5N8 HPAI in poultry in the country has increased to 24. Latest to be affected are around 1,000 commercial ostriches and 140,000 unidentified poultry in Western Cape Province, a backyard flock in Mpumalanga, and 248,000 birds in Kwazulu-Natal.

The same virus has also been detected recently in other birds in South Africa recently. These include backyard flocks of ducks, swans and geese in North West Province and Gauteng, and a wild bird found dead in Tshware city in Gauteng province.

Asia: Bird flu 'under control' in the Philippines

Recent outbreaks of HPAI in poultry in the Philippines have been brought under control, according to Philippines Star. Initially sparking fears the disease had spread to Mindanao, sudden mortality in a duck flock in that region one week ago has been linked to another cause.

Measures put in place to contain the disease-including a ban on poultry movements- appears to have been effective, the Department of Agriculture has said.

So far, a total of three outbreaks of HPAI in the Philippines have been reported to the OIE. Following the initial outbreak in Pampanga at the end of July, involving 190,000 birds, there were cases at two farms in the neighboring province of Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon in early August. Latest to be affected are flocks of around 9,000 quails and 28,000 laying hens.

The virus involved in all three outbreaks has been identified as an H5N6 type.

From Taiwan comes news of a new outbreak of HPAI caused by the H5N2 variant of the virus. According to the OIE report, around 25,300 native chickens at a farm in Yunlin county tested positive for the virus. The flock has been culled, cleaning and disinfection have been carried out, and farms within three kilometers of the affected farms will be subject to surveillance for three months.

Europe: Four new HPAI outbreaks in Italian poultry

Over the last week, the number of outbreaks of H5N8 HPAI in poultry in Italy so far this year has increased to 33.

According to the Italian health authority and research organization for animal health and food safety (IZSVe), the most outbreaks included three flocks of meat turkeys in Verona province in the region of Veneto, and a large flock of game birds (comprising pheasants, partridges, and mallard ducks) in Lodi province in Lombardy. The outbreaks affected more than 57,000 turkeys and 23,000 game birds, all of which have been humanely destroyed.

China: One new human avian flu case

Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection reports that there has been one new confirmed cases of avian influenza A (H7N9) in China over the last week. The latest case, from Hunan province, brings the global total to 1,559 since March of 2013 to 1,559, and Mainland China’s count to 753 since October last year.

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