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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development says Irvine’s chicken farm is not to blame for the outbreak of the H5N8 bird flu at the commercial poultry farm in Mashonaland East province last week.
Irvine’s, the country’s biggest chicken breeder, detected and contained an avian influenza outbreak at one of its properties.
The virus was detected on a farm with two million birds and killed 7 845 animals while another 140 000 birds were culled.
Agriculture Deputy Minister responsible for livestock, Paddy Zhanda, said the farm was not to blame for the flu which could have been brought to the farm by migrating birds from Europe.
“The outbreak of the bird flu was not and is not because of the carelessness of the farmer. If you go there the bio-safety measures are very adequate. The disease is not caused by either importation of birds or whatever but it is a virus that can even come through the air particularly through migrating birds from affected countries in Europe,” said Zhanda in an interview in Gweru yesterday.
“We have other birds in the surrounding vicinity that can cause that and we are optimistic that the measures we put in place are adequate and we hope that it doesn’t spread.”
Avian influenza is a virus that occurs naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and it affects domestic poultry and other birds and animal species.
The disease can only be transmitted to chickens by direct contact with an infected bird, manure or contaminated equipment.
The farm is close to a small dam where there are a number of different migratory waterfowl, which are suspected to be the source of infection.
@pchitumba1
Online Reporter