South Africa experiences biggest bird flu crisis

South African poultry farmers are facing a significant challenge due to what they describe as the country's worst bird flu outbreak on record. Producer Quantum Foods announced last Friday that it suffered losses of almost two million chickens, equivalent to more than 100 million rand (about 5.3 million dollars) this year due to the disease. South Africa, one of the continent's largest poultry producers, recorded its first cases of bird flu on commercial farms in April, as reported by industry groups. Recently, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) warned that the country is dealing with two different strains of the virus, including the infamous H5N1 and a new strain identified as H7N6. Although bird flu does not usually infect humans, H5N1 has shown an increasing tendency to infect mammals around the world, from sea lions in Argentina to foxes in Finland. This has raised concerns that the virus could become more transmissible to humans. Furthermore, what is notable is that ...