For the first time, Mozambique has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the H7 group, among poultry in the southern part of the country, according to the official notification to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

Mozambique’s health authorities said that the bird flu outbreak was found on a farm of 54,207 laying hens aged between 23 and 30 weeks kept in a high biosecurity facility. Of the more than 54,000 laying hens at a farm in the east of the country, around 15,000 showed signs of illness, and more than 8,800 died at the end of September. According to the WOAH, the source of infection was either legal animal movements, or the introduction of new birds.

The outbreak is posing severe challenges to both the poultry sector and the nation’s economy. Mozambican government officials need to take immediate measures to alleviate the impact on the poultry supply chain and the retail sector to ensure adequate supplies for its citizens.

This is the first time that the bird flu virus of the H7 group has been found in Mozambique and East Africa. Based on information from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Mozambique was among the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have recorded no cases of HPAI of any type with pandemic potential since 2017. The WOAH has confirmed that the H7 outbreak in Mozambique is linked to the continuing battle of an HPAI virus of the H5 family in South Africa since April this year. The veterinary authorities detected the first case of H7N6 in May this year. In the following month, it quickly spread across the country, involving individual flocks of between 130 and more than 404,000 birds of unspecified poultry type. Now, Mozambique, a leading poultry producer on the continent, has to grapple with a major bird flu outbreak that killed millions of chickens.

The spread of the highly contagious virus is raising concern among governments and the poultry industry after it ravaged flocks around the globe in the past years, disrupting supply, fueling food prices, and posing a risk of human transmission. Officials have warned Western Cape farmers to use extreme caution if they bring in poultry from other provinces. Furthermore, the farmers need to carry out more frequent cleaning and disinfection around their premises, and not allow any non-essential visitors to enter their farm.