Why South Africa’s avian influenza outbreak is affecting the SADC region
Several poultry farms in South Africa are experiencing outbreaks of avian influenza. A highly contagious viral infection that affects both domestic and wild birds.
The National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) in South Africa reports that influenza A(H5N1) and influenza A(H7N6) are the two strains currently generating avian influenza outbreaks in the country.
Past outbreak
In 2021, there was a similar outbreak of avian influenza on a chicken farm in South Africa's central province of Gauteng.
“Approximately 300 birds died of AI influenza on this commercial chicken-layer farm. The samples from this farm that were sent to the laboratory tested positive for the H5 strain of AI. It must be said that this farm was also part of the H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in 2017,” the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development said in a statement.
The same farm had also been impacted by the 2017 outbreak of the H5N8 strain of avian flu, which forced poultry farmers to kill thousands of birds and led neighbouring nations like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana to forbid the import of chicken from South Africa.
“As a result, the import of domesticated and wild birds, their products (meat, eggs and feathers), from South Africa is banned with immediate effect,” Botswana’s Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security said in a 2021 statement.
Current outbreak
The current influenza A(H5N1) outbreaks have been ongoing since April 2023 and as of October, there have been 10 outbreaks in poultry and 39 outbreaks in non-poultry birds, the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRD) reported.
Lesotho's response
The avian influenza outbreaks in South Africa have triggered a chain reaction that extends beyond its borders. Lesotho's Minister of Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition imposed the ban on chicken imports from South Africa to prevent potential infections.
Economic consequence
The ban on South African chicken imports has had an impact on the availability of chicken products in the country.
The ban has forced multinational franchises like KFC to temporarily close their doors due to the lack of chicken, local news media Lesotho Times reported.
“Our supply chain has been severely impacted due to unexpected government regulations, we are sorry, but all our Lesotho restaurants will be temporarily closed,” KFC Lesotho said in a statement.
