Egypt's poultry sector unaffected by bird flu cases

Recent news that a child in Fayoum had contracted bird flu appeared to have minimal affect on Egypt's poultry industry.

Prices per kg of chicken now average between EGP13 to EGP14.

Bird flu cases first hit Egypt in mid-February 2006, causing massive panic that resulted in poor poultry sales and the culling of thousands of birds. Egypt was estimated to have culled over 20 million birds in the three months after the first case of bird flu, and it took several months for poultry demand to recover.

However, as cases continued to be announced, the panic died away and there is little reaction in the poultry market nowadays. The Fayoum case was the 56th occurrence of the virus in Egypt and as over five million families depend on poultry for food and income, the country cannot stop buying chicken.

Today, most bird flu cases come from the informal chicken industry and that's a better situation as at least 80 percent of Egypt's poultry come from the commercial sector, according to Mohamed El-Shefei, vice chairman of the Poultry Council of Egypt.

Egypt's government has yet to implement a plan to help eliminate bird flu from rural areas where most bird flu cases come from, critics said.

While Egypt compensated farmers affected by bird flu, the programme ended in May 2006 and is yet to renew it.

El-Shefei said authorities cull birds in areas where cases are discovered.

The bird flu virus has been found in birds in 61 countries, leading to the slaughter of more than 300 million birds.