South African poultry producers have secured an agreement with government that allows them to import vaccines against avian influenza, which should happen in the next few months.
This good news for battling chicken farmers came in an interview that City Press published with Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association.
Breitenbach said the agreement had been reached with the department of agriculture.
“Unfortunately, it all takes time. We expect it to take two to six months before we can start vaccinating. The process is ongoing and will address the outbreaks in the long term,” he said.
Poultry producers, and particularly the egg industry which has been hardest hit by bird flu outbreaks, have been calling for vaccinations as an alternative to controlling the spread of bird flu by the forced culling of millions of healthy birds.
Unlike other countries, the South African government will not compensate farmers for the culling of healthy birds ordered by state veterinarians.
Breitenbach said that, since the beginning of this year, 3.5 million of a total of about 29 million laying hens in the country have died or been culled.