Mass vaccination against bird flu would not happen unless agriculture minister John Steenhuisen intervenes, FairPlay said in a statement.
FairPlay founder Francois Baird noted that, while Astral had been given permission to vaccinate chickens at one farm, no other producer had followed suit because producers regarded the requirements for vaccination as too onerous and too expensive.
Agriculture officials were still insisting on those rules, despite being instructed to agree a practical and affordable set of protocols with the poultry industry. Rainbow, the second-largest poultry producer, last year described the requirements as “prohibitive”.
Astral’s vaccinations would result in pockets of immunity against bird flu, but unless other poultry producers also vaccinated, there would be no nationwide immunity to prevent another disastrous outbreak, Baird said.
“The need to vaccinate is urgent and a matter of national importance. Unless vaccination is done at scale, we are vulnerable to food security risks exacerbating an already untenable situation of historic high unemployment, child stunting, hunger and malnutrition in low-income households.
“Chicken is the most affordable and most consumed meat protein and the failure to vaccinate jeopardises the well-being of millions of South Africans, if shortages occur,” Baird said.
“Unless there is a change of attitude at the Department of Agriculture, no mass vaccination programme will get underway. Another series of widespread outbreaks would be disastrous for the poultry industry and its workers, for local and regional economies, and for South African consumers.
“Two years of arguments over an impractical set of vaccination requirements must end. Only Minister Steenhuisen has the authority to end it. Will he act?” Baird asked.
