John Steenhuisen cracks down on serious threat

Despite fears that another avian flu outbreak could be around the corner, the Department of Agriculture stressed that this can easily be avoided if farmers implement the correct safety measures.

Recently, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen instructed his department to collaborate with the South African Poultry Association to develop a plan for addressing future outbreaks of bird flu in South Africa.

This comes in response to a warning from the National Council of SPCA (NSPCA) about the risk of another outbreak, which could severely impact the poultry industry unless immediate action is taken.

With the arrival of migratory birds, the risk of a new, highly contagious virus increases, raising concerns among industry experts about the potential consequences.

Deputy Director General of Agricultural Production in the Department of Agriculture, Dipepeneneng Serage, stressed on Newzroom Afrika that the situation is not as dire as it has been made out to be.

However, he added that the NSPCA has been very reckless with issuing the warning that it did.

Serage said that there is not currently an outbreak in the country, and if farmers cooperate with the set guidelines and biosecurity requirements, a full-scale outbreak can be avoided entirely.

In order to avoid an outbreak, he said that two things need to happen.

The first is in terms of Section 11 of the Animal Diseases Act, which outlines the responsibilities of farmers and others regarding the control of animal diseases and parasites, including reporting suspected infections and treating infected animals.

This section specifies that those who farm with animals should take all reasonable steps to prevent the spreading of or eradicate any animal disease or parasite.

If they suspect that their animals have been infected, they are required to treat the disease or parasite and immediately report it.

In other words, farmers have an obligation to prevent their animals from getting infected and, if they do get infected, to ensure that the infection does not spread to neighbouring farms.

Using that as a point of departure, Serage stressed that all farmers should understand it is their sole responsibility to ensure that their livestock do not get infected.

One way they can do this is by securing their operations.

Biosecurity, as the United Kingdom Department of Agriculture defines it, “is the prevention of disease-causing agents entering or leaving any place where they can pose a risk to farm animals, other animals, humans, or the safety and quality of a food product”.

For poultry farms, biosecurity measures would include focusing on isolation, traffic control, sanitation, and pest control, including cleaning and disinfecting and educating personnel on these protocols.

Some examples are fencing off chickens to ensure that they do not come in contact with wild birds, providing footbaths at the entrance of each shed to disinfect footwear, providing dedicated farm clothing for personnel and ensuring that they wash their hands.

“If they were to do that, we wouldn’t have an outbreak,” Serage said.

“They mustn’t make as if an outbreak is going to fall from the sky and suddenly all of us are ended. They need to play their part.”

Secondly, he explained, the Department of Agriculture has registered a vaccine for one strain of influenza.

Importantly, in order to allow vaccinations, the department has put a number of conditions in place that chicken producers must adhere to before their birds can be vaccinated.

Although this vaccination is not enough to prevent birds from being infected, Serage explained that it will make the situation more manageable, which is why it is so important for farmers to get it.

The NSPCA has called for the department to relax the vaccination requirements, reasoning that the easier it is to vaccinate chickens, the easier it will be to stop an outbreak.

However, Serage stressed that these measures come from the World Trade Organisation and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), both of which South Africa is a signatory to.

“The measures that you have been set in place are not South African measures. These are measures that are set at that level,” he said.

“The world’s best veterinary scientists with specialisation in poultry gathered and developed these measures. These are not our measures, these are measures that are developed by the WOAH.”

Serage explained that if South Africa adheres to these vaccination measures, it will be able to export its poultry products without issue.

“If we were to vaccinate in the reckless manner in which they want us to vaccinate, though, we will automatically lose our status, our ability to be able to export poultry and poultry products,” he said.

“They don’t mention that when they come to the media.”