The South African government’s refusal to compensate poultry farmers for chickens culled during avian influenza (bird flu) outbreaks has increased the need for a vaccination programme to combat the virus.
Compensation encouraged farmers to report outbreaks and enabled them to reestablish their business after the flocks were culled, SAPA’s Izaak Breitenbach explained. While other countries paid compensation, South Africa does not.
This meant poultry farmers could not afford another huge loss such as they suffered in the 2023 bird flu outbreak, which cost the poultry industry R9.5 billion. Hence the need for vaccination.
“In the absence of compensation and considering the dramatic impact on the industry in 2023, it was decided that we need to prevent that from happening again. The industry cannot afford it, financially or otherwise”.
In June last year, the South African High Court rejected the government’s reasoning that sick birds had no value and so no compensation was payable for culled birds. However, Breitenbach said, the government is appealing against that decision.
