'Worst ever' bird flu outbreak could lead to chicken shortage

Astral is the country’s s largest integrated poultry group.

The industry has lost almost four million birds to the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu.

The outbreak has affected several provinces, including Gauteng, the Free State and Mpumalanga.

Astral Foods says the current outbreak is the worst the country has ever experienced.   

“The poultry industry, in both the table egg and broiler sectors, has seen significant losses as a new strain of bird flu (H7N6) has spread across both Gauteng and Mpumalanga at an alarming rate. The bird flu has already caused short supplies of table eggs into the market, and it is expected that the supply of poultry meat into the value chain could be affected negatively in the coming months.

“The bird flu outbreak is the worst that South Africa has witnessed and goes well beyond the impact felt by the H5N8 bird flu in 2017. To date, the total cost associated with the current bird flu outbreak amounts to approximately R220 million.”

The outbreak has added to the woes of the poultry sector, which is already battling with the effects of load shedding.

The food producer says the high cost of diesel to power generators, cutbacks in poultry production and higher feed costs due to older broilers have all had an impact on its earnings.

“The total costs of load shedding, including capital costs of R200 million, for the group for the financial year will amount to approximately R1.9 billion. This has been the main reason for the severe decline of Astral’s results for the year ending 30 September 2023.”

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