Almost a thousand dozen eggs have been incinerated in Maputo due to bird flu diagnosed at a production unit in southern Mozambique and the authorities are predicting a possible rise in prices.

Bird flu was diagnosed in a production unit in the province of Inhambane, leading to the slaughter of 45,000 laying hens that produced around 44,000 eggs a day for consumption, a case linked to dozens of outbreaks of two different strains that are spreading in neighboring South Africa.

"We are anticipating a possible rise in egg prices," said the provincial director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mariamo Luísa Pedro José, in an interview with Lusa in Maputo.

Maputo province, which borders South Africa, is among the main producers, with a production capacity of 3.9 million hens and 942 million eggs per week, according to figures from the provincial directorate.

"So we're not too worried about the drop in [production]. What we're really afraid of is rising prices," added the provincial director of Agriculture and Fisheries, quoted by Lusa.

Throughout the country, surveillance has been stepped up, especially on the border with South Africa and in the provinces close to Inhambane.

"We're working, we're deploying our inspectors so that all animal health safety is observed (...) And we've done all the safety work to incinerate all the product that comes from the hotspots," he added.

South Africa has culled around 2.5 million chickens in an effort to contain dozens of outbreaks of two different strains of bird flu, threatening an already struggling industry, the South African government said on October 3.

More than 205,000 chickens have died of bird flu in at least 60 separate outbreaks across the country, more than half of them in Gauteng province, which includes the country's largest city, Johannesburg, and the administrative capital, Pretoria.

Some small stores in Johannesburg have started limiting the amount of eggs available to customers and the government has now acknowledged that there are "supply constraints".

The South African government is speeding up the granting of new licenses to import eggs from other countries "to ensure that consumers have sufficient supplies," announced Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza.

The Ministry is also considering launching a vaccination program to curb bird flu outbreaks and said that the number of farms with cases is increasing.

Namibia has banned the import of chicken meat and eggs from neighboring South Africa.

According to the South African Poultry Association, this bird flu outbreak crisis is the worst since 2017.

Several US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that bird flu outbreaks are on the rise globally, reporting more than 21,000 outbreaks worldwide between 2013 and 2022. Bird flu rarely infects humans.

Eggs are an important and affordable source of protein in South Africa, but prices have risen steadily this year and the shortage caused by bird flu is expected to push prices up again and increase food inflation in the country.

The poultry industry in South Africa has already been hit hard this year by electricity shortages, whose regular blackouts to save energy have taken their toll on the solvency of companies.

South African farmers announced in January this year that they had been forced to cull almost 10 million young chicks, due to the record number of blackouts at the beginning of the year experienced by Africa's most advanced economy, causing a drastic slowdown in production.

Lusa