The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), located in Paris, announced on Monday that two outbreaks of highly virulent H7 bird flu in poultry have been recorded in South Africa, which is east of Johannesburg.
According to WOAH, which cited South African officials, 9,500 farm birds perished from the virus in the town of Victor Khanye in the province of Mpumalanga, with 2,000 birds in one area and 7,500 in the other.
The strain that was found was H7, not the H5N1 type that has killed hundreds of millions of birds worldwide.
Avian influenza or bird flu refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses. These viruses naturally spread among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species. Bird flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with bird flu viruses have occurred.
In order to stem the spread of the disease during bird flu outbreaks, producers must put to death any infected animals. Growers consequently experience considerable financial losses.
