Staff Reporter
Windhoek-The largest poultry producer in the country, Namib Poultry Industries, says its production of poultry products has not been affected by the outbreak of the avian influenza in South Africa.
Namibia joined Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique who in the last week of June all banned or suspended imports of poultry, and chicken feed, from South Africa following the outbreak of the avian flu at some of South African farms.
To date there have been no cases of avian influenza reported in the country, and Namib Poultry Industries stresses that it sources all its raw materials locally.
“As a company we would like to ensure all consumers that our chicken meat produced locally in Namibia at Namib Poultry should be regarded as safe for human consumption,” said the statement issued by
Namib Poultry Industries spokesperson Ashante Manetti.
The company said its product is a proudly Namibian product manufactured and produced locally in Namibia. Manetti also said the avian influenza outbreak in South Africa is not known to have any negative effect on people.
“The particular strain of the virus, H5N8, which was isolated in chickens in Mpumalanga, South Africa, poses no threat to humans and is not the same deadly strain as was isolated in Asian countries in the past,” she said.
The strain is however lethal to chickens and has a 100 percent mortality rate.
“For the safeguarding of the industry in Namibia it is imperative that all role players in the industry and the general public work together to prevent the disease from entering Namibia,” Manetti said in the statement.
The company also appealed to all producers of chicken and other poultry in the region to implement specific monitoring measures to avert the outbreak of the avian flu.