Share

Kenya, Rwanda ban poultry from Uganda over bird flu

Nairobi - Kenyan and Rwandan authorities said on Wednesday they had banned poultry products from neighbouring Uganda, where a virulent H5 strain of avian flu has broken out.

"The government banned importation of poultry and poultry products from Uganda with immediate effect," said Kenya's agriculture cabinet secretary Willy Bett at a press conference.

The move from Nairobi comes two days after Rwanda also blocked poultry imports.

"Rwanda has put in place measures to prevent the disease. We have temporarily halted the import of poultry and poultry products," Christine Kanyandekwe from the country's agricultural department said Wednesday.

She said Rwanda imports 50 000 day-old chicks and 100 tons of eggs from Uganda per month.

Figures for Kenya were not immediately available.

Uganda's agriculture ministry announced on Sunday that it had detected avian flu among migratory birds, saying that it had since spread to a few domestic birds.

In both areas where it was detected the birds tested positive for "the highly pathogenic avian influenza that affects both humans and animals and which causes a high number of deaths in both species", the ministry said.

Uganda's acting commissioner in charge of animal health Dr Anna Ademun told AFP the strain was "confirmed to the level of H5."

Uganda has some 40 million chickens, according to agricultural statistics.

In 2016, 51 countries declared the outbreak of one of the virulent H5 and H7 strains of bird flu, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

These include H5N1, H5N2, H5N5, H5N6, H5N9, H7N1, H7N3, H7N7 and H7N8.

Europe is battling the spread of H5N1, culling millions of birds on farms and moving them indoors to avoid contagion from infected wildlife.

The strain can be transmitted to humans, and is held responsible for the deaths of several hundred people since 2003.

Japan and Iran have also had to cull hundreds of thousands of birds due to outbreaks of the virus.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 511 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 722 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.90
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.86
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.36
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE