Nairobi — It was the news that the poultry industry loathed to hear: that the deadly bird flu virus had finally spread to Africa killing poultry in northern Nigeria. Even before experts predicted the consequences of the spread, the industry in Kenya was already feeling the pinch.

In fact reduced sales of chicken began as early as mid last year, mainly due to the fear of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has already caused 88 deaths worldwide, and appears to have made some Kenyans shy away from eating or buying chicken for breeding.

Kenya's leading chicken seller, Kenchic, now says it has lost more than Sh60 million in the last three months. The losses, the company says, began with increased news reports of the flu outbreak and its spread.

"From October, we have lost Sh5 million in local sales every week after the threat was highlighted in the media," says Kenchic managing director Muraya Muiru.

Boycott

It seemed extensive coverage on both local and international media not only increased the level of awareness of the disease, but also made Kenyans to boycott the chickens. It is not only the company's local business that suffered, but its exports too.

Mr Muiru says exports nose-dived after Uganda imposed a blanket ban on day-old chickens from Kenya. "We used to export 40,000 chicks a week, but that changed when the ban was imposed," he adds.

The official reads politics in the Uganda ban, saying that the reason given for the action is that Kenya is bang in the middle of the migratory birds' pathway.

"This is not enough reason to ban Kenyan chickens, because our products are of high standards, and we have even brought Uganda veterinary experts to inspect our facilities and they were all content with our operations, "Mr Muiru said.

Kenchic also exports about 40,000 day-old chicks to Tanzania and 10,000 to Ethiopia a week. Kenya has formed a surveillance team to monitor migratory birds, which pose the biggest threat. For Kenchic the worst month was December - which on a normal year is the best in terms of transaction records - when sales dropped by more than 20 per cent.

Unlike other festive seasons when consumers crave for chicken, in the last festive season, the company only sold 45,000 kilogrammes of processed chicken, down from 60,000, a drop of 33 per cent.

Muguku Poultry, another leading company, selling day-old chicks has also suffered from the fear of the disease. According to the owner, Nelson Muguku, the company saw its sales decline as early as January last year, and increased as the year came to an end.

"We used to sell 15,000 broilers on a normal week but now the sales have declined to 12,000," says Mr Muguku.

At a price of Sh45 per broiler, Muguku used to rake in Sh675,000 per week but now the company only makes Sh540,000.

Mr John Gitau of Lake Chick Hatcheries also complains of poor sales.

According to Mr Gitau the company used to sell 5,000 day-old chicks per week but now the sales have declined to 1,000.

He even markets abroad. For example, the company used to sell around 4,000 chicks per week to Tanzania, but all was lost when the Government slapped a ban on chicken imports.

"We have lost about Sh180,000 a week from the ban, and this is hurting our business," laments Mr Gitau. Sigma supplies, is one of the lucky companies which has remained unscathed by the threat, at least according to the proprietors, but is uncertain whether business will remain the same in view of the latest developments.

Kenchick's boss, however, believes it is not only the bird flu threat that is pushing down sales. He says the diminishing purchasing power of Kenyans is also to blame.

Though the economy has recorded growth in the last three years, the effects have not trickled down to the common man, whose purchasing power continues to diminish.

The billion-dollar chicken business has suffered heavily, not only in Kenya, but also worldwide. Millions of chicken have been burnt in Europe and Asia, as governments desperately try to control its spread.

China, Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia and Japan, among others, killed millions of poultry to stem the spread, but so far the measure has not helped, given the fact that some cases are blamed on migratory birds.

Countries have been on the alert following the spread of avian flu in Asia and Europe, with reported human infections exceeding 300 since 1997. In Kenya, unlike other countries in Europe, chicken is still regarded as expensive. During festive season, free range chicken prices shoot up with a rooster even costing as much Sh1,000 and above.

Purchasing power aside, veterinary consultant Humphrey Mbugua says Kenya, like any other country, is under the threat of the dreaded flu.

Caged

But Dr Mbugua says the risk is more on the free range chickens which roam the countryside, since their chances of getting in contact with migratory birds were higher than caged ones.

"The likelihood of infected poultry entering a licensed processing plant and eventually being marketed, is very low," he adds.

But the Nigeria case, where the disease was discovered in a large commercial chicken farms, proves that both subsistence and commercial chicken are all under the same threat.

In fact, the poultry population in the country is estimated at 30 million, 80 per cent of which are free range, 19 per cent are commercially reared broilers and layers and one per cent are made up of other poultry species like ducks, turkeys and geese

Kenchic has strict sanitary standards. According to the company's veterinary officer, Dr Victor Yamo, one has to bathe and change clothes four times before getting into contact with the chicken.

The director of Veterinary Services, Dr Joseph Musaa, says people should continue eating chicken.

Dr Musaa advises consumers to cook chicken at over 100 degrees centigrade for over 10 minutes.