The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has expressed concern over another potential widespread Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak in South Africa, since the virus typically migrates with wild birds from Europe to South Africa in winter.

This heightens the urgency for proactive measures to safeguard farmers against the disease, including culling infected and at-risk flocks and vaccination.

SAPA says HPAI has already spread across Europe, the US and Argentina and remains unchecked in many countries.

Culling alone has not been effective in controlling the disease, as evidenced by the experiences of the EU and the US, SAPA explains.

In fact, egg producers in the US have begun lobbying for vaccination, given the severe consequences of the disease.

In South Africa, 90% of long-living poultry in greater Gauteng were either culled or died in 2023 owing to the inability of biosecurity and culling measures to contain the outbreak.

Drawing from the lessons learned from France’s success in vaccinating 20-million ducks, South Africa is faced with the pressing need for vaccination as a tool to combat bird flu.

A major challenge facing South African farmers is that they are unfortunately not compensated for birds culled, and so far, no farms have been granted permission by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) to vaccinate.

Currently, South Africa has three registered H5 vaccines, but the H7 vaccine requires additional testing, which will take at least another year before it can be approved.

Industry leaders agree that vaccination is essential, particularly after the devastating losses experienced from HPAI outbreaks in 2017 and 2023.

In 2023, more than 9.6-million birds were culled, representing more than a third of long-living birds in the greater Gauteng area, where 90% of birds were either culled or died. The direct minimum estimated loss to the industry was a staggering R9.5-billion.

“With the potential to lose half of all poultry flocks again, the impact on the industry would be catastrophic, not just financially but also in terms of food security, malnutrition and environmental concerns from the destruction of large numbers of birds,” SAPA states.

Moreover, this will wreak havoc on the price of South Africa’s preferred protein, like it has in the past, as any shortage in supply will inevitably increase pricing.

Despite these pressing needs, obstacles remain in obtaining permission for vaccinations.

The DoA has put in place stringent biosecurity measures and monitoring protocols that farmers must meet to be granted vaccination approval. However, these measures have proven impractical, and costly, with no commercial farms in the country currently able to comply.

This sets an impossibly high bar, particularly for small-scale farmers. As it stands, no farm has met the criteria for vaccination approval, and the DoA has ceased processing vaccination applications until further guidance is provided by Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s office.

While South Africa remains classified as HPAI positive, it severely impacts the country’s ability to export. “The urgency of addressing this looming crisis cannot be overstated. The industry has called for immediate intervention to prevent a disaster.

“Without vaccination, South Africa may once again face catastrophic consequences from HPAI,” SAPA concludes.