South Africa needed a vaccination programme to prevent the devastation of another huge bird flu outbreak, according to agriculture minister John Steenhuisen.
Earlier this month, Steenhuisen announced preparations for the country’s first mass bird flu vaccination programme. The poultry industry has said vaccinations are essential to avoid another disastrous outbreak such as the one that hit the industry in 2023.
Poultry World quoted Steenhuisen as saying South Africa is not currently facing an outbreak of avian influenza, but there had been an uptick in bird flu cases around the world.
“What we are trying to do is to prevent the devastation that could come if there’s an outbreak[…] We have made a decision in collaboration with the poultry association in South Africa to embark upon this process.”
Steenhuisen also spoke about the impact that a bird flu outbreak would have on the cost of food for consumers and the risk that more jobs are lost.
“The government of national unity has committed to bringing down the cost of food for consumers in South Africa and this is just one step in trying to prevent runaway food prices if we have a mass cull or a mass death rate of chickens as a result of avian influenza.”
The minister wanted the poultry sector to grow.
“There’s huge growth potential for this particular sector and also there’s a huge growth potential for emerging and previously disadvantaged farmers to enter into this sector and so we’re obviously looking to expand it massively. The more supply we can create, I think the cheaper the prices will be for consumers,” he said.
