SA has recorded the first case of bird flu within its borders, with about 24,000 birds in the Mpumalanga province affected by the outbreak, the Department of Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries said on Thursday. An outbreak of bird flu was first recorded in Zimbabwe earlier this month and forced Irvines’s, the largest poultry company there, to cull about 140,000 birds. SA, Mozambique and Botswana swiftly moved to ban poultry imports from Zimbabwe to protect their poultry products. South African Poultry Association CEO Kevin Lovell described the outbreak in Zimbabwe as "very worrying". On Thursday, Bomikazi Molapo, the department’s spokesperson, said the South African Veterinary Authority had been notified of a high number of deaths of a breeder flock in Villiers, close to the Mpumalanga provincial border. "Samples were collected on the farm and have yielded a positive result for a highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N8. The department has agreed with the company to euthanise the bi...
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