JOHANNESBURG: South African poultry farmers have issued warnings of potential chicken and egg shortages as they confront what the industry describes as the most severe bird flu outbreak to ever strike the country.
Producer Quantum Foods reported on Friday that it had suffered losses of nearly two million chickens, amounting to over 100 million rand ($5.3 million), due to the outbreak. “The bird flu outbreak is the worst that South Africa has witnessed,” stated fellow producer Astral in a recent trading update. “(It) has already resulted in a shortage of table eggs in the market, and there are concerns that the supply of poultry meat to the value chain may be negatively impacted in the upcoming months.”
The outbreak has already incurred costs of 220 million rand for Astral, according to the company. As one of the continent’s major poultry producers, South Africa initially reported its first cases of bird flu on commercial farms in April, as reported by an industry group.
Earlier this month, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) revealed that the country was grappling with two distinct strains of the virus: the well-known H5N1 and a newly identified strain designated H7N6. The latter has been spreading rapidly in the northeastern provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, causing alarm among industry experts.
Bird Flu Typically Does Not Infect Humans
It is essential to note that bird flu typically does not infect humans, but there are concerns about the H5N1 strain, which is increasingly infecting mammals worldwide. Instances of transmission to humans have raised fears about its potential to spread more readily among people. While the virus has historically been confined to seasonal outbreaks, cases have emerged year-round and across the globe since 2021, leading experts to label it the most significant outbreak ever recorded.
SAPA reported that the number of avian flu cases in South Africa this year has exceeded the count in any previous year since the first outbreaks were reported on commercial farms in 2017.
