South Africa said on Wednesday that the outbreak of avian influenza in the Riversdale district in the Western Cape province is under control after 8,000 ostriches had been culled.

Steve Galane, spokesman of the Department of Agriculture, said, "follow-up investigations show no sign of disease in the area surrounding the outbreak."

However, routine surveillance and blood testing had detected a few farms in the Western and Eastern Cape where ostriches may have been exposed to the virus.

"No sign of diseases were observed in these farms. The country is also still free of the H5N1 virus that has been diagnosed in the Far East, Europe and North Africa," Galane said.

Galane said his department, together with the ostrich industry, had embarked on an eradication and control campaign according to international guidelines.

"The public must please be understanding and cooperate with movement control measures that they may encounter," he added.

He said all commercially available ostrich and poultry products were safe for human consumption.

A precautionary European Union ban, in place since early July, on the import of ostrich meat and meat-related products remains in force.

Source: Xinhua