How the ban on all Brazilian poultry imports will most likely affect South Africans

Different government stakeholders have voiced difference of opinion about how the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) should handle the Avian Influenza Flu outbreak that is affecting Brazil. Today, the DALRRD has announced that it has decided to temporary ban all imports of fresh and frozen chicken and by products from Brazil.

A move some stakeholders don't approve of, they prefer South Africa develop a strategy to ban the imports from Brazilian regions that are mostly affected by the Avian Influenza.

To better explain this, let say a wild species chicken goes to one poultry farm and infect the domestic poultry being raised there it doesn't mean now the neighboring farms now will automatically have the Avian Influenza as well, unless they come in to contact with the livestock that has the influenza.

In most cases, the avian influenza affects one region and the government stakeholders will try to control the spread of it from that region to another. One method is to mark that farm and house.

In poultry terms a house means a room or compartment for chicken, per compartment there is a known number of chicken, there can be different compartments in a farm. So a house identified to have Avian Influenza to be isolated, and to put it under stringent treatment regime, and staff located there not to come into contact with other workers from different farms & houses, as to prevent cross-contamination. Also, a microbial screening protocol is done at an increased frequency to ensure early detection of cross-contamination. The chicken is slaughtered i.e. culled last when sent into the abattoirs and than a vigorous cleaning and sanitation should be followed.

Even though we have local companies that produce and sell chicken to consumers, however majority of the chicken is still being imported from Brazil. Also, there is what is called Mechanically Deboned Meat (MDM) which the meat processing industry use in their recipes to make products like polony, vienna, russian and sausage that is imported from Brazil. Approximately, 92% of our chicken is import and from Brazil and almost all MDM the meat processors use is currently imported from Brazil.

So what this means is there the demand will be high now and supply low, which will results in local prices of chicken changing. We might see items like polony and viennas also increasing in prices. Most South African households because of prices of other meat products prefer to buy chicken, if the prices had to up than Food insecurity will also go up. Chicken offal as well, there is likely to be shortage of chicken feet, heads and hearts. This is also consumed a lot by lower income households that mainly depend on social grants and are not working.

Even though the government has assured people that there will be no shortage of chicken in the country, they did not guarantee the prices will not be affected.

Prevalence of Avian influenza in the world:

" Avian influenza is a significant concern for the poultry industry, with outbreaks affecting both commercial farms and wild bird populations. While a specific prevalence rate across all poultry farms globally is difficult to pinpoint, studies indicate a noticeable presence, particularly in commercial chicken farms, with some suggesting up to 40% of investigated farms having AIV-infected poultry."

What is currently happening in Brazil is not new to the poultry industry. In fact, in 2023 South Africa also experienced this outbreak. And a thousand number of chicken had to be culled. While human Avian Influenza cases on humans have been mild, it is still concerning how frequent and common these outbreaks are in the poultry industry.