Poultry famers in the Western Cape are on high alert following renewed outbreaks of avian influenza (bird flu) in seabirds near the Cape coast. The disease has been carried worldwide by migratory wild birds.
The Western Cape province houses some 28 million chickens, comprising 19% of the country’s egg layer flock, and 17% of broiler birds.
The bird flu outbreak was reported by the seabird rescue organisation SANCCOB.
“Since early July 2025, a new outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in wild seabirds across the Western Cape. These are the first wild‐bird detections in the province since April 2024,” the organisation said in a statement.
“At the beginning of August 2025, most of the affected wild birds were Hartlaub’s gulls. Cases have also been reported in Great White Pelicans, Grey-headed Gulls, Kelp Gulls, Whitebreasted Cormorants, Crowned Cormorants and Sacred Ibises. Domestic chickens and ducks have also been affected.”
The organisation warned members of the public not to handle sick or dead birds, and to keep dogs and cats away from any affected birds.
The Western Cape Department of Agriculture confirmed a fresh outbreak of bird flu in farmed ducks near Paarl in early July. The farm owners culled the birds to prevent the disease from spreading.
This follows earlier bird flu outbreaks at two commercial poultry operation in North West and Mpumalanga provinces.
South African poultry producers fear a repeat of the devastating nationwide outbreaks that hammered the industry in 2023. The latest outbreaks in seabirds come at the end of winter, and infections normally lessen in summer months.
However Europe and the United States have had repeated bird flu outbreaks in the current northern hemisphere summer.
