Western Cape residents can expect a shortage of eggs on shop shelves in the coming weeks as close to two-thirds of egg-laying hens have been culled as a result of bird flu, the South African province’s government said on Friday.
“Some shortages of poultry products including eggs, may be experienced in the province over the coming weeks as a result of the action taken to tackle avian influenza,” said Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC of local government, environmental affairs and development planning.
“This was unavoidable given the extent of the outbreak. We are doing what we can to assist the industry to recover as quickly as possible.”
In a joint statement, Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the confirmed cases of HPAI H5N8, also known as avian influenza or bird flu, in the province has increased to 56.
He said 2.7 million birds have been culled, 2.6 million of them layer hens.
“There are just over 4.2 million layer hens in the Western Cape, meaning we have lost 63 percent of our egg-laying poultry,” said Winde.
“We have received reports that farms in Gauteng have started restocking after their properties have shown to be 100 perceptions free of the virus. We will be monitoring this process closely.”
Winde said chicken houses are being disinfected across the province, but until all traces of the virus have been eliminated, the Western Cape could not start restocking.
It is estimated the province was losing close to R900 million as a result of the virus – R800 million in production, coupled with a R75 million expected loss in the cull buyer market.
Winde said there were 144 ostrich farms under quarantine, but added that so far no ostriches have been culled as a result of bird flu.
