SA shoppers hit with EGG LIMITS – Here is the latest

Shoppers have been shocked to find egg limits in stores due to an ongoing outbreak of avian flu in the country.

SA SHOPPERS HIT WITH EGG LIMITS

Stores are forced to enforce egg limits on shoppers and many retailers have empty egg shelves.

ALSO READ: Seven things YOU need to know about the SUPER-INFECTIOUS bird flu in SA

This is due to the outbreak of a high-pathogenic avian influenza, a bird flu that spreads rapidly in an infected flock, causing a high death rate.

ALSO READ: EGG replacements: How to cope with SA’s egg crisis

THIS IS CAUSED BY THE ONGOING OUTBREAK OF AVIAN FLY IN SA

General manager of the egg board at the SA Poultry Association (SAPA), Dr Abongile Balarane, told the media that the initial H5N1 outbreak started in the Western Cape in April.

ALSO READ: Avian flu detected in Western Cape, 120 000 birds culled

According to Balarane, the virus then spread throughout the country, with only two provinces, the Eastern and Northern Cape, not affected.

A DIFFERENT STRAIN HAS EMERGED IN FOUR PROVINCES

He said a different strain of the disease has since emerged in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo, and north of Free State.

“In South Africa, we usually have about 27 million hens producing eggs daily; of those, five million have been culled due to infection.

“We estimated with other cases that are coming there will be 8.5 million layer hens affected by both the H5N1 and H7N6 strains of influenza.”Balarane said.

ALSO READ: Penguins in South Africa ENDANGERED following bird flu outbreak

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FIVE MILLION HENS HAVE BEEN CULLED DUE TO INFECTION

Balarane furthermore said that the poultry industry would be quick to recover from the shortage, and eggs were being imported to remedy the situation.

READ: Avian Flu: Namibia is the latest country to ban poultry from SA

Here are seven things YOU need to know about the SUPER-INFECTIOUS bird flu: 

HERE ARE THE SEVEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 

• Two farms in Mpumalanga experienced an outbreak. 
• The local flareups experienced this year had been spread by wild birds. 
• The latest outbreak began on a small farm in Delmas about two weeks ago before spreading to a larger commercial farm in that area.
• According to Reuters, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said that a total of 9 500 farm poultry died in the latest South African outbreak, with one farm seeing 2 000 birds wiped out and the other 7 500.
• The poultry that died would have either been deliberately culled or perished from the virus, adding that SA had a “stamp-out policy” that would see poultry culled within a 3km radius of the infections.
• About 1.5 million birds had died in all three outbreaks – either through culling or expiring from the flu.
• Various outbreaks in recent did not just affect SA but also hit North and South America, as well as Europe.