Dr Charlotte Nkuna, Director of the Poultry Disease Management Agency at the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), comments: "Importers, as well as the poultry industry, must immediately stop importing live poultry, poultry meat and processed poultry products from affected countries as well as those that transit through those areas to South Africa."
Sol Motsepe, Senior Executive: Broilers at SAPA, says even though the import bans are likely to stay in place for some time to come, local producers are more than able to meet local demand with a high quality local product that remains safe to eat.
"The DAFF will ban imports until affected countries declare their freedom from AI with the OIE, which can only be done a minimum of three months after the last positive case has been reported. Affected countries then resubmit recertification applications for exports to South Africa, a lengthy but critical process to ensure South African poultry and our consumers are protected," he says. "We have always been concerned over the high levels of imported poultry and the manner in which these frozen products are handled locally. Considering that the bird flu virus survives in a frozen state, the possibility of the disease spreading in this way is of national importance."
Emphasising the importance of the safety of local poultry for South African consumers, Dr Nkuna says that SA runs a surveillance programme where producers test their flocks twice a year to detect any emerging influenza strains within the poultry populations. This proves that our flock is currently free from the disease, which enables producers to trade.
"We nevertheless remain vigilant with the highest levels of biosecurity in place as successful eradication depends on a country's ability to respond quickly with high levels of human and financial resources to stop the spread of the infection," she says. "So, to protect our local industry, keep the national flock safe and ensure that consumers continue to enjoy chicken that's safe to eat, until the affected countries are free of the disease, bans on imports will remain in place."
