A Fairplay webinar held recently noted that the Government and the poultry industry needed to work together to avoid a repeat of the Avian Flu outbreak back in 2023.
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A Fairplay webinar held recently noted that the government and the poultry industry needed to work together to avoid a repeat of the Avian Flu outbreak back in 2023.
The webinar included FairPlay founder Francois Baird, Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association ,Obed Lukhele, a vaccination expert from Astral Foods and John Fourie Jnr from poultry producer Chubby Chicks.
The panelists agreed that South Africa needed to avoid a repetition of the 2023 bird flu outbreaks which devastated the poultry industry, and that government and poultry producers had to work together to achieve this.
Breitenbach said that although the poultry industry was not facing the “burning fires” of the foot and mouth disease crisis for cattle farmers, the bird flu issue was serious and required immediate attention.
“Bird flu could break out at any time, and a vaccination programme started now would only take full effect next year. He pointed out that the government was actively assisting beef farmers, and similar assistance should be given to poultry farmers.”
Breitenbach added that they have 35 million laying birds that need to be vaccinated. “We must get close to 70% vaccinated, as that’s when vaccination really starts to work.”
Breitenbach said that he was hopeful new agriculture minister Willie Aucamp would release the revised requirements for vaccination. ‘These had been drawn up, but not published, after the poultry industry complained that the requirements set by the agriculture department were too onerous for most farmers to implement.”
Breitenbach added that lack of agreement over a practical and affordable set of requirements has held up large-scale vaccination for nearly three years. “Only one producer, Astral, has vaccinated chickens at one site.”
Breitenbach said that he hoped Minister Aucamp would meet industry leaders so that they could brief him on the size, complexity and national importance of the poultry industry.
Lukhele, who is involved in the vaccination programme at Astral, said science-based vaccination was a necessary adjunct to biosecurity and other management measures. “Without vaccination, a new bird flu outbreak could be devastating.”
Lukhele added that producers would be able to export chicken as long as their vaccination process was science-based. “There were two vaccination processes, involving two or three doses, for adult birds and for day-old chicks.”
Fourie said the 2023 bird flu outbreak had changed the way poultry companies operated. "The country was now better prepared, with enhanced biosecurity procedures, but farmers urgently needed an affordable vaccination programme.”
Fourie added that he hoped the government assistance would include paying for the vaccine doses. “On the theme of “togetherness”, he said all involved – government and large and small poultry producers – had to get together urgently to get mass vaccination going.”
Breitenbach concluded by saying the poultry industry would work with Minister Aucamp to get the best solution so that chicken farmers “do not have to experience what they experienced in 2023."
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