(Photo: by JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
A vendor picks up a broiler chicken from a cage at the Mbare Market in Harare on June 9, 2017. - South Africa has halted poultry imports from Zimbabwe after a recent outbreak of highly contagious avian influenza at a farm in the neighboring country, the government said.

According to the government and national poultry organization, around 7.5 million chickens have been killed in South Africa in an effort to stop dozens of outbreaks of two different strains of avian influenza that might cause a shortage of eggs and poultry for consumers. 

In at least 60 different outbreaks across the nation, at least 205,000 hens have perished from bird flu, with more than half of those outbreaks occurring in Gauteng province, which includes the nation's largest metropolis, Johannesburg, and the capital, Pretoria, according to CBS News.

Limiting the Purchase of Eggs

In some Johannesburg grocery stores, customers were only permitted to purchase a maximum of one carton of six eggs of eggs this week, and the government acknowledged that there were "supply constraints."

According to a government announcement, 2.5 million hens raised for their meat had been destroyed. 

The South African Poultry Association reported the culling of an additional 5 million egg-laying birds. Izaak Breitenbach, general manager of the South African Poultry Association, estimated that the 7.5 million birds constituted 20-30 percent of the country's whole chicken stock.

Accepting More Imports

According to Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza, the government is acting quickly to approve fresh import licenses for businesses bringing in eggs from other nations "to ensure sufficient supplies for consumers." The number of farms with cases is rising, and her ministry is considering starting a vaccine program to stop the bird flu epidemics.

South African chicken meat and egg imports are not permitted in neighboring Namibia.

A sector that is already having trouble because of a power issue is being impacted by the outbreaks. The most recent outbreaks were "by far the worst," according to Breitenbach, and they have already resulted in losses to the sector of at least $25 million. South Africa has experienced three significant bird flu epidemics in recent years.

Read also: Bird Flu Could Lead to Next Pandemic; Mutations Might Allow H5N1 Strains to Infect Humans

The Need for Vaccines

He claimed the vaccines would need to be imported and should be available for usage in two to six months.

According to Wilhelm Mare, the South African Veterinary Association's chairman of the poultry group, as many as 8.5 million egg-laying chickens and more than 10 million other birds could be impacted.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States reported last month that bird flu outbreaks were increasing globally, with more than 21,000 outbreaks occurring between 2013 and 2022. However, the CDC notes on its website that only one human infection occurred in 2022 and rates the overall risk of the disease to the public's health as "low."

Related article: Dozens of Cats in Poland Infected With Bird Flu-No Human Cases Reported