Bird flu wipes out R954m, SA turns to imports

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Briefing Parliament's portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries on Tuesday about the outbreak of the avian flu, the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) said the culling of birds to contain the outbreak had resulted in a loss of R954m in the sector.

Sapa confirmed that no new outbreaks had been reported on commercial farms since mid-January. However, farms affected have had to cull all birds and recall and destroy all eggs as part of measures to control the spread of the virus. Farms also had to shut down production for up to six months while they embarked on surveillance and cleaning.

Concerns over job losses, recurrence

Rosina Semenya, the portfolio committee chairwoman, was concerned that 1,300 people had lost their jobs and asked if small-scale farmers and traders were being compensated.

"We have received the report from SA Poultry and are awaiting reports from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and from the Food and Allied Workers Union.

"We need a combined approach to revitalise this aspect of the sector in order for the farm workers to be trained and up-skilled in improving biosecurity measures so that they are not laid off.

"We would also like to know what happens if there is a recurrence of avian flu, as there are some ostriches that are still infected," she said.

Compensation for birds culled

Sapa has called for a more holistic approach to compensating farmers, taking into consideration the labour and chemicals used to clean farms. Late in 2017, Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana said in a reply to a parliamentary question from the DA that his department would not compensate for birds culled.

"Chickens infected with HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] show an extremely high mortality rate within a very short period and no part of the carcasses can be used for any purpose except for the production of compost on site.

"Eggs from infected sites must be destroyed as per the instruction on the quarantine notice and such eggs are also considered to have no value.

"Detailed guidelines on how compensation will be applied for the culling of uninfected birds are currently being developed."

Source: Business Day