Bird flu won't steal Christmas

South Africans need not worry about missing out on their Christmas turkey - or chickens or ducks.

An outbreak of avian flu in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands is unlikely to affect poultry supplies this festive season.

The CEO of the South African Poultry Association, Kevin Lovell, said he did not foresee a "chicken run" ahead of Christmas.

"The shelves are safe for Christmas shoppers and are likely to remain well stocked."

Lovell said the bird flu first detected in Germany on November 4 had spread to Holland, with an outbreak recorded also in the UK.

According to The Daily Telegraph, thousands of turkeys have been culled in Yorkshire recently.

Bird flu, or avian flu, is an infectious viral illness that spreads among birds. In rare cases it can affect humans.

Lovell said it would be interesting if one strain had been found in three countries as it would have spread incredibly fast over a large geographical area.

"But it will not affect our supplies as most of our turkeys come from Brazil.

"Even if prohibitions are put in place it will be only for those affected countries.

"We can assure consumers that, regardless of whether you are a turkey, duck or chicken person, your meat of choice is safe.

"If the supplies from outside the country are threatened then we have local supplies. As they say, local is lekker, with enough measures in place to ensure our local birds remain lekker," Lovell said.

Frans van der Bergh, chairman of Agri-Gauteng who farms chickens, said South African chicken farmers had been struggling for the past year against cheap imports from Brazil and Europe.

"As a farmer I feel sorry for the farmers who have been affected, but it's good news for us farmers as there will be fewer imports, with our prices returning to normal," he said.