The South African poultry industry has once again urged the government to intervene to overcome the obstacles set up by the Department of Agriculture to a bird flu vaccination programme.
The SA Poultry Association (SAPA) issued another statement this week pointing out that the poultry industry faced a looming crisis because of the high risk of a new bird flu outbreak. The industry suffered losses of R9.5 billion in the 2023 outbreak.
“Without vaccination, South Africa may once again face catastrophic consequences from bird flu,” the statement said.
It said no vaccinations were taking place because of the difficulty farmers faced in getting permission to do so. The problem was the stringent biosecurity measures and monitoring protocols required by the Department of Agriculture before approval would be given.
“However, these measures have proven impractical, and costly, with no commercial farms in the country currently able to comply. This sets an impossibly high bar, particularly for small-scale farmers.”
No farm had met the criteria for vaccination approval, and the department had stopped processing vaccination applications until further guidance is provided by Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen.
“The urgency of addressing this looming crisis cannot be overstated. The industry has called for immediate intervention to prevent a disaster,” SAPA said.
