Thousands of eggs are burned, and authorities in Mozambique are prepared for bird flu

Nearly a thousand dozen eggs have been burned in Maputo due to bird flu diagnosed at a production plant in southern Mozambique, and authorities are predicting a possible price increase, an official source told Luse on Tuesday.

“We expect a possible increase in egg prices,” Mariamo provincial director of agriculture and fisheries Luisa Pedro José told Lusa in Maputo.

The case in point is bird flu, which was diagnosed at a production plant in Mozambique’s Inhambane province, leading to the culling of 45,000 laying hens that produced about 44,000 eggs daily for consumption. The case is linked to dozens of outbreaks of two different strains that are spreading in neighboring countries. South Africa.

Maputo province, which borders South Africa, is among the main producers with a production capacity of 3.9 million chickens and 942 million eggs per week, according to provincial officials.

“So we’re not too concerned about the low [da] production. What we are really afraid of is rising prices,” added the director of the provincial department of agriculture and fisheries.

Inspections have been stepped up across the country, especially along the border with South African territory and in provinces close to Inhambane.

“We are working, placing our inspectors so that all veterinary safety is observed (…) And we have completed all the safety work of burning all products that come from hot spots,” he added.

South Africa has culled some 2.5 million chickens as it tries to contain dozens of outbreaks of two separate strains of bird flu, threatening an already struggling industry, the South African government said on October 3.

More than 205,000 chickens have died from bird flu in at least 60 separate outbreaks across the country, more than half of which occurred in Gauteng province, which includes the country’s largest city Johannesburg and the administrative capital Pretoria.

Some small shops in Johannesburg have begun limiting the number of eggs available to customers and the government has now admitted there are “supply constraints”.

The South African government is speeding up the issuance of new licenses to import eggs from other countries “to ensure there is sufficient supply for consumers,” Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza said.

The ministry is also considering launching a vaccination program to curb bird flu outbreaks and says the number of farms affected by the disease is growing.

Namibia has banned the import of chicken meat and eggs from neighboring South Africa.

The current avian influenza crisis is the worst since 2017, according to the South African Poultry Association.

Several North American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that bird flu outbreaks are increasing worldwide, reporting more than 21,000 outbreaks worldwide between 2013 and 2022. Bird flu Birds rarely infect humans.

Eggs are an important and affordable source of protein in South Africa, but prices have risen steadily this year and shortages caused by bird flu are expected to again drive up prices and increase food inflation in the country.

The South African chicken industry has already been hit hard by power shortages this year, with regular power cuts to save energy affecting companies’ solvency.

South African farmers announced in January this year that they were forced to slaughter nearly 10 million young chickens due to a record number of power outages experienced by Africa’s most advanced economy earlier in the year, causing a sharp slowdown in production.