Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza said in a statement that her department “is happy that the HPAI outbreak is under control” and that the 70% of farms that were not infected continue to produce eggs and chickens.
However Astral CEO Chris Schutte said the H7N6 strain that had wiped out poultry flocks in Mpumalanga and Gauteng was airborne and not controllable. The infection rate had eased because there was hardly any poultry left in these areas, he told a media briefing after the company’s results announcement.
Where Astral and the government agree is that there should be adequate stocks of chicken and eggs in the shops this festive season, and consumers need not resort to panic buying.
Schutte said the poultry producer had taken a number of steps to mitigate any potential shortage. Didiza said that in preparation for the approaching festive season, South Africa has imported 9 million fertilised eggs, 37 802 tons of day-old chicks and 30 986 tons of poultry meat.
“Since the egg production cycle is not too long, we expect the situation to normalise early next year. We will continue to import more eggs should the situation not improve,” she said.
Egg stock levels were replenishing steadily and “there is no need for panic buying at this stage,” the minister stated.
