Botswana has become the latest southern African country to ban imports of South African poultry and related products due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, joining Namibia and Mozambique which have already imposed bans.
The Botswana Agriculture Ministry’s announcement follows an outbreak of bird flu on a chicken farm in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.
This was confirmed on Tuesday, October 24, by South African authorities.
“As a result, importing domesticated and wild birds, their products (meat, eggs and feathers) from South Africa is banned with immediate effect,” the Botswana Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security said in a statement.
After an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu in 2017, which saw poultry farmers culling millions of birds, neighbouring countries which included Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania banned imports from South Africa.
Botswana authorities warned its public to be vigilant and to report any deaths of domestic poultry or wild birds to veterinary offices. – SOURCE: Reuters
