AGRICULTURE NEWS - Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), explained that wild birds carried the virus and were the mostly likely the way in which the virus was spreading, even as farmers stepped up biosecurity on their farms.
In April, a H7 outbreak occurred in the Western Cape where it was contained and did not spread further to nearby farms.
A month later, however, the virus infected chickens on a farm in George, where it was also contained.
“However, when the virus infected hens on a small-scale farm in Delmas, Mpumalanga last week, the farmer did not react quickly enough and so it spread to a neighbouring commercial farm. The authorities were notified and all 3 000 hens on the smaller farm and nearly 1,8 million on the second farm were culled,” said Breitenbach.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly
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