South Africa's poultry industry has urged Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp to finalise revised bird flu vaccination protocols, warning that even if approval is granted immediately, it will take about a year before the national flock is meaningfully protected against future outbreaks.
Speaking during a FairPlay Movement webinar on Thursday, South African Poultry Association (SAPA) chief executive officer Izaak Breitenbach said the industry had spent the past three years engaging government on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccination and had submitted a Section 23 application in April seeking revised biosecurity and monitoring protocols that would enable more producers to vaccinate.
Breitenbach said the industry was still awaiting formal feedback after the Section 23 committee reviewed the proposed protocols and had recently approached Aucamp's office to continue discussions.
"We have not received any formal feedback from the minister," he said, adding that the industry wanted scientifically justified protocols that more producers could implement without compromising disease control.
He urged Aucamp to engage directly with the industry, conclude the Section 23 process and provide a decision on the revised protocols.
Breitenbach warned that time was running out.
"Even if we start vaccinating tomorrow morning, our flocks will only be protected within a year's time, so we will still be exposed for the next 12 months."
Astral Foods Technical Executive: Agriculture, Obed Lukhele, said vaccination should complement rather than replace strict biosecurity and surveillance measures. He said revised protocols would make vaccination more practical while maintaining disease control, and called for stronger veterinary capacity and a more robust wild bird surveillance programme.
From a producer perspective, Chubby Chick director John Fourie Jr said vaccination would strengthen the industry's resilience but remained prohibitively expensive, particularly for smaller producers.
He called on government to subsidise vaccination costs to support wider adoption across the industry.
The speakers also maintained that vaccination could be introduced without sacrificing export opportunities.
Lukhele said the World Organisation for Animal Health recognised vaccination as an accepted disease control tool provided it was supported by science-based surveillance, compartmentalisation and biosecurity. Under those conditions, disease-free production facilities could continue exporting poultry products.
Breitenbach said South Africa had developed export protocols based on international standards and European experience, and did not expect vaccination to materially affect access to existing export markets.
