August 6, 2004

Suspect Bird Flu Keeps South Africa's W. Cape On Alert

South Africa's Western Cape government says it will have a clearer picture by tomorrow of the type of virus that killed ostriches in the Eastern Cape recently. The incident had raised fears that it could be avian influenza or bird flu.

The authorities will then have an idea of the extent of the infection in the Western Cape, said the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.

The department was informed by the National Department of Agriculture that three ostrich farms in the Cradock, Somerset East region in the Eastern Cape had reported serious mortalities apparently due to the disease.

"On request, samples were sent to the Western Cape Veterinarian Laboratories and were provisionally diagnosed as the high pathogenic AI, which caused major mortalities in the east in early 2004," it said.

However the diagnosis has not been confirmed yet.

As a safety measure, the Western Cape has requested the Eastern Cape not to send birds for slaughtering to the Western Cape, until there was more clarity on the infection.

The disease could pose a serious threat to the export of ostrich meat from the Ostrich Exports Abattoirs in the Western Cape, which could lead to the European Union (EU) immediately revoking the province's export status if the disease spreads there.