Namibia has banned the import and movement of live poultry, birds and poultry products from South Africa following the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu.
In a statement last week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform announced that the ban is effective from 19 March 2021.
“Consignments containing poultry products packed in their final packaging on or after the date of the start of suspension will be rejected and sent back to the country of origin or destroyed at the importer’s cost,” the statement reads.
All previously import and transit permits to import poultry and their products from the infected compartment have been cancelled and recalled.
“Namibia however, continues to allow the import and transit of live poultry products from HPAI free compartments of South Africa,” the ministry noted.
The avian influenza detected at a commercial farm in the East of Johannesburg is said to be highly pathogenic and could lead to more countries banning poultry from South Africa, according to the department of animal health.
On Tuesday, the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development said 300 birds on a commercial farm in Ekurhuleni were culled after testing positive for the H5 strain of the avian flu.
The farm was also affected by the highly infectious H5N8 bird flu outbreak in 2017.