South Africa culls 8,000 ostriches to control bird flu

South Africa has culled 8,000 ostriches to contain an outbreak of a less virulent strain of avian flu in West Cape province, the Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday. While the department reiterated that the H5N2 outbreak was under control it said it suspected that ostriches in other areas may have been exposed to the virus. But it stressed that the disease had not been detected elsewhere. "The outbreak of avian influenza in ostriches... has been brought under control by the culling of 8,000 ostriches. Follow up investigations show no sign of disease in the area surrounding the outbreak," it said in a statement. "The routine, ongoing surveillance and blood testing has unfortunately led to the detection of a small number of farms in other areas of the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, where it is suspected that ostriches may have been exposed to the virus. No signs of disease were observed on these farms," it said. The H5N2 bird flu is deadly to animals but, unlike the highly pathogenic H5N1 variety, not humans. The European Union has banned imports of ostriches, emus and their meat from two districts in South Africa because of the outbreak. South Africa has also banned exports from the areas. "All commercially available ostrich and poultry products remain safe for human consumption," the deparment said. South Africa typically compensates farmers for such culls.