In light of the social media hype the Avian Bird Flu has received since the recent outbreak, with posts circulating showing the increase in egg prices and major retail outlets limiting the amount of eggs consumers can purchase, Bloemfontein Courant spoke to local egg suppliers and an expert from the University of the Free State to figure out what this means for local consumers.
Prof. Robert Bragg, who has been working on the control of diseases in poultry for more than 35 years, told the publication that the Avian Influenza epidemic has pushed the poultry industry further back in addition to ongoing challenges caused by load-shedding and power disruptions.
“Avian Influenza (AI) is a viral disease of birds, including poultry. This is a devastating disease of poultry and can wipe out a flock in just a few days. AI is the most widely studied disease of poultry as it has been causing major problems in the poultry industries around the world for many years,” Professor Bragg explained.
He added that there are efforts to now import vaccines against Avian Influenza that will assist with the control of the disease in the long term, but will, unfortunately, not do much to control the current problem in the short term. This can lead to a domino effect in the long term on both consumers and farmers, despite it being safe to eat eggs and chicken.
Marco Torsius from El- Azaar, a local poultry farm, added that although he remains hopeful that there will be light at the end of the tunnel, it just cannot be determined how long it will take and he fears that it would make it harder for suppliers like himself to fulfil their duties to the consumers.
“What is the aim of a farmer? It’s putting food on your table. Not only putting food on the table, but putting affordable food on the table. Now eggs are becoming much more expensive. People say, it’s going straight through the roof. It’s true, let’s say 4 or 5 months ago you were paying up or down R60 for 30 eggs. Now you’re going to pay R90 for 30 eggs… Of course we’re not looking for that. So we hope that this is a temporary situation,” he explained.
Another local supplier from Mingyuin Eggs said the Avian Flu has not affected their business directly because they adhere to the strict biosecurity requirements.
Maseko Maseko, who saw an opportunity to establish an organic layers enterprise to produce organic eggs, advises local vendors to adhere to the strict biosecurity requirements to ensure that they do not have to bear the brunt during this time.
“Farm visitors must sanitise their hands and immerse their shoes in a foot dip, vehicles have to pass through a spray booth. Adhering to strict biological measures will be a way of bouncing back for this outbreak,” he said.
As a result of the outbreak, the suppliers had to increase the prices of their produce to ensure that the quality of their produce was not compromised.
“Furthermore we had to improve our already strict biosecurity measures to ensure that no stones are unturned in ensuring the health of our chickens.”
He concluded by adding that the recovery of the “poultry industry from the outbreak remains a possibility, however, a call for government subsistence to poultry farmers will be necessary.”
Gypseenia Lion
gypseenia@mahareng.co.za