An appeal is also made to hobbyist keepers of any birds, including poultry, to remain vigilant and report any signs of illness in their birds to their veterinarian. Avian influenza is also an airborne virus and is not restricted to infection only by contact.
Trade restrictions imposed by South Africa’s neighbours have relaxed somewhat or remained the same, with Botswana reducing its national ban to the affected farms only, Namibia restricting imports from the one affected compartment on the East Rand and Lesotho restricting imports from Gauteng. Swaziland has restricted the affected compartment, and Mozambique has no official restrictions in place.
Commenting, the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) stated that it is grateful that, whilst the financial impact on the farms affected is significant and has had a severe negative effect on the farmers, avian influenza incidents have not increased this past week. The support of DALRRD and all veterinary staff involved have been invaluable.
Supplies of both poultry meat and eggs remain fully stocked, with less than 1% of the bird stocks producing poultry meat and eggs affected by avian influenza to date.
Consumers are advised that poultry meat and eggs remain safe to eat, and should be cooked properly according to acceptable cooking protocols, achieving temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius. No products from the infected farms were placed in the market.
