Poultry farmers in South Africa have warned of the threat of a chicken shortage in the coming months, with the industry hit hard by an outbreak of bird flu described as the “worst” ever seen in the country.
Quantum Foods, one of the heavyweights in the market, deplored losses on its farms on Friday to the tune of some 5.3 million dollars (4.9 million euros), or two million chickens, due to the virus.
The day before, the country’s largest producer, Astral, had announced that the market was already suffering from a shortage of eggs, estimating that “this outbreak of avian flu is the worst that South Africa has ever known”.
Spreading at “alarming speed”
The virus “has already caused a shortage of eggs and it is expected that the supply of poultry meat will be negatively affected in the coming months”, underlined in its latest activity report Astral, which blames $11.7 million in virus-related losses.
South Africa is one of the continent’s leading poultry producers. The first cases of bird flu on commercial farms appeared this year in April, according to the South African Poultry Association.
According to the organization, breeders are faced with two strains of the virus, H5N1 and H7N6. The latter is spreading “at an alarming speed” particularly in the most populous province bringing together Pretoria and the economic capital Johannesburg, according to Astral.
Cases throughout the year
Across the world, avian flu is infecting more and more mammals, ranging from foxes to sea lions, raising fears that the virus will adapt to infect humans more easily, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). ).
Contagion is generally seasonal but in recent years cases have appeared throughout the year, with experts now considering the outbreak to be the largest ever observed.