Ostrich meat is still safe for consumption despite the outbreak of avian flu on two farms in the Eastern Cape, the Klein Karoo group, which represents producers of ostrich meat and ostrich products, said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Jan Greyling said he believes that the outbreak of the disease has been contained to the two farms in the Middleton area. Strict quarantine measures are in place and about 30 000 ostriches will be culled to prevent the disease from spreading.
Greyling said the avian flu strain that has been identified by a South African laboratory ”was not known to affect humans”.
Confirmation is still being awaited from an international laboratory.
He said the strain that has been identified is H5N2. It affects ostriches and poultry.
”Never before during an outbreak of that strain of avian flu in South Africa and Italy did any humans get sick.”
Last year 24 people in Asia were killed by another strain of bird flu, the H5N1 strain.
Greyling said ostrich farmers in the Eastern Cape have, for a number of years already, free of charge vaccinated chickens and other poultry belonging to residents of townships and informal settlements around the production areas against the basic avian flu.
He added that ostriches and poultry cannot be vaccinated against the different strains of avian flu because the virus mutates from host to host. A basic vaccination is, however, available.
He reassured consumers of ostrich meat that it is still safe to buy and eat the meat.
”Many people eat only ostrich meat for health reasons. We want to say to them that it is still safe to eat the meat.”
The ostriches that are being culled will be buried in a mass grave and no part of them, be it meat, feathers or leather, will get on to the market. They will also be killed in such a way that no spillage of blood will occur. — Sapa
Ostrich culling to start in E Cape