Two farms in Mpumalanga, South Africa, have recently encountered an outbreak of the highly contagious H7 strain of avian flu, distinct from the H5N1 variant that devastated over a million birds in the Western Cape in recent months. The country’s leading poultry body, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), confirmed the incidents.
While the third avian flu outbreak in as many months has been contained, SAPA expressed concern about the situation. All the local outbreaks this year have been linked to wild birds, making control efforts more challenging.
However, Izaak Breitenbach, the general manager of SAPA’s broiler division, reassured me that the situation was not spiraling out of control. He acknowledged the risk of disease spread from wild birds to chickens, potentially leading to more outbreaks across different regions of the country.
The most recent outbreak originated on a small farm in Delmas around two weeks ago before spreading to a larger commercial farm in the same area. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) based in Paris, the latest South African outbreak resulted in the death of approximately 9,500 farm poultry. One farm reported the loss of 2,000 birds, while the other experienced a significant loss of 7,500 birds.
The poultry industry remains vigilant as efforts continue to contain the avian flu outbreak and prevent further spread within the country.