Four poultry farms in South Africa were infected with the avian influenza virus. Credit: Karol Klajar on Unsplash.

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The Western Cape Department of Agriculture in South Africa has announced that approximately 134,000 birds have been culled at poultry farms due to a virus outbreak.

The department said that four poultry farms were detected as infected with the avian influenza virus.

As of now, H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus strains have been identified at two farms while laboratory confirmation is still pending for the other two.

The virus was detected at farms located near Worcester, Malmesbury and Hopefield.

The source of the viruses present in the northern part of the country is yet to be established.

However, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture said that the poultry meat and eggs are safe to consume.

It said that Western Cape Veterinary Services is also investigating other suspected cases.

Strains of the avian influenza virus identified in South Africa are said to pose a low risk for human infection. So far, there have been no cases of animal-to-human transmission.

However, the virus can be transmitted by humans from sick birds to other birds on their clothes and hands, which can be avoided by handling the dead birds with gloves and washing hands afterwards.

South Africa’s neighbouring countries Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique and Botswana, are reported to have suspended poultry imports to prevent the spread of the virus.

This February, Vietnam culled more than 100,000 poultry to contain the spread of bird flu. Outbreaks of the pathogenic H5N1 and H5N6 bird flu strains were reported across 14 provinces.

With a poultry flock of almost 460 million birds, Vietnam reported small-scale bird flu outbreaks during recent years.