Vaccination not the answer to bird flu crisis, says minister Senzeni Zokwana
SA has already culled 260,000 birds, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana said on Thursday, as the country deals with an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu. However, he said, vaccinating poultry against the deadly avian influenza would not be in the best interests of either the country or producers. At a media briefing, Zokwana announced that the sale of live chickens would be restricted until local veterinarians could declare the country’s poultry free from the feared disease. Zokwana said there had been several calls to permit vaccination against the disease. Poultry vaccines can prevent healthy chickens from contracting deadly strains of bird flu. "I have been advised by my team of experts that this will not be in the best interest of both the country and the producers," said Zokwana. He explained that vaccination of birds would create an endemic situation, affect surveillance efforts and affect SA’s export certification because all its tra...
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