Dr. Ziyanda Majokweni, Director: Poultry Disease Management Agency, has just released this information (on 22-6-2017):
A single outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) of the H5N8 type has been isolated on a farm near Villiers. This strain of the virus has its origins in Europe and has been infecting European poultry for more than a year. In May it was isolated in Zimbabwe. The disease is spread primarily by water fowl that carry the disease in the highly pathogenic form. The affected farm is near the Vaal River. It is likely that the disease is present in other parts of South African in wild water birds, especially ducks. The public are requested to report any sightings of high levels of large wild bird or backyard chicken mortalities.
The farm has been isolated and culling of the birds on the affected site has commenced. Some 28 000 birds are to be culled. The Mpumalanga Veterinary Authority is on the farm, assisting with quarantine implementation, culling and disinfection of the farm.
This strain has been found not to be dangerous to humans and the birds affected are a very small percentage of the total South African chicken flock. At this stage there is a very limited impact on chicken supply. As this is the first time that the disease has been found in South African poultry we are monitoring the situation very closely.