Avian flu has been detected on three more farms near Middleton in the Eastern Cape, but the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs said on Wednesday there is no need to panic as the farms are within its quarantine zone.
Spokesperson Segoati Mahlangu said the three other farms are within the 30km radius around the two farms where the virus was originally detected.
As part of the department’s surveillance programme, blood and tissue samples from ostrich farms around the country are also being tested.
Mahlangu said the five ostrich farms had a total population of 10 500 birds and that 8 670 have already been culled, under the supervision of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The department is still waiting for test results from one piggery in the quarantine area.
According to Mahlangu there is no evidence that the H5N2 strain of the virus discovered in Middleton could be harmful to humans.
”We are still investigating the cause and origin of the virus, but at this stage there is no indication that this strain can affect people like the H5N1 strain in the Far East,” he said.
Despite the self-imposed ban on the export of ostrich meat, Mahlangu said many other ostrich products are exempted from the ban.
These include empty ostrich eggs that have been disinfected, feathers that have been fumigated, tanned leather and meat that has been treated and processed at a temperature of at least 70 degrees Celsius. — Sapa