Poultry Industry allays chicken, egg fears ahead of the festive season

The Mozambican Poultry Industry Association (AMIA) said on Tuesday that the sector had enough chickens and eggs for Christmas and the end-of-year festivities, at a time when the country is facing an outbreak of avian influenza.

Mozambique on high alert as bird flu detected south of the country

“Even in the face of [bird flu] outbreaks, we are confident in our ability to ensure the supply of chicken and eggs for consumption during the festive period,” a statement from AMIA distributed yesterday reads.

At issue is bird flu diagnosed in a production unit in the Mozambican province of Inhambane, which led to the slaughter of 45,000 laying hens producing around 44,000 eggs daily, a case linked to dozens of outbreaks of two different avian flu strains in neighbouring South Africa.

At the moment, according to sector sources, Mozambique has 1,615 metric tonnes of frozen chicken in stock and, by December, expects to have 4,935 metric tonnes of domestic chicken to hand, in addition to 1,200 metric tonnes of imported chicken.

“It is important to highlight that we do not foresee, at industry level, any increase in the prices of chicks, feed, broiler chickens, and consumer eggs before the end of this year,” the AMIA adds, although, since the outbreak of the flu, the price of eggs in Maputo has already risen from 230 meticais (€3.00) to more than 300 meticais (€4.00) for a 30-unit comb, Lusa has established.

The Mozambican authorities say that inspections have been reinforced country-wide, especially on the border with South Africa and in provinces close to Inhambane in southern Mozambique.

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