Close cooperation between government, business and environmentalists is seen as preventing a single case of avian flu detected in Tunisia, which produced 229,729 tonnes of poultry last year. 

Ariana: The Tunisian halal poultry sector has claimed its good practice has been preventing livestock from becoming infected with bird flu that can infect human consumers. 

Tunisia’s vulnerability to the disease, also known as H5N1, is particularly intense because the country lies on the key wild bird migration routes between Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. This fact and a resurgence of bird flu last year in neighbouring Algeria caused the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries to issue a warning to Tunisian poultry producers in November as the winter wild bird migration season got under way, appealing to farmers to display “vigilance” over the disease. 

The vast majority of Tunisia’s important poultry sector is run under halal principles, with all chickens slaughtered killed under halal rules, said Olfa Faidi, veterinarian and DGSV head of poultry monitoring. “In 2020, production of poultry meat for Tunisia was 229,729 tonnes,” according to data platform Knoema, which said the value of Tunisian exported poultry in 2018 was worth $1.8 million. 

Roukaya Kourchani, veterinarian and regional inspector of veterinary services at the ministry told Salaam Gateway that the awareness campaign had been a success: “Until now there has been no single case of avian flu detected in Tunisia” this year. The concern is based on past outbreaks in Tunisia, for instance as reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in 2016, which also confirmed Tunisia’s vulnerability because of bird migration routes.

Kourchani, who is responsible for the observation of wild birds at the ministry’s Directorate General of Veterinary Services (DGSV - Direction Générale des Services Vétérinaires) said monitoring centres in the country’s 24 governorates had been put on alert, with samples taken from suspected cases given laboratory analysis. Checks on wild birds and domestic fowl have been maintained with the help of NGOs, including a key environmental health partner, the Friends of Birds Association (AAO - Association Les Amis des Oiseaux).

“Each time Tunisian authorities have information about an increase of avian flu cases in Europe, there are meetings arranged with partners to intensify health monitoring in order to protect poultry facilities,” said Kourchani. For poultry companies requiring halal certification for exports and domestic sales, a Tunisian public halal certification system was launched by the industry ministry in 2019 “in response to increased demand from Tunisian companies exporting food products, and in response to demand from Tunisia’s external markets," said a note from Tunisia standards agency Institut National de la Normalisation et de la Propriété Industrielle (INNORPI).

Aymen Abroughui, AAO spokesperson, said his group had worked with the government to fight avian flu since 2005. It and the government releases a monthly newsletter informing halal poultry producers whether the virus has been detected in Tunisia, sharing any data with the public, stating what species of birds – wild or domestic – have been found infected with the disease. 

The role of the AAO is a “primary watchtower to inspect this disease before it is spread,” said Abroughui. Of particular concern are wild birds migrating from European wetlands to North Africa, notably birds from France and Germany flying to Tunisian inland wetlands, such as Sebkha Sejoumi (a lake near Tunis), Ichkeul National Park and other swampy areas, that “may spread H5N1 and other viruses,” said Abroughui.

These birds are checked for the presence of the disease - a “front line to monitor and detect any avian flu cases before it reaches domestic flocks, commercial poultry or even humans,” he added. This follows a National Plan to Prevent Avian Flu, established in 2005 and since under regular review, which involves bird health monitoring, border controls for imports of infected meat and birds, and checking domestic household poultry owned by families. The AAO works with hunting associations to carry out this work.

Faidi stressed that regional veterinary services checked biosecurity standards at commercial halal poultry producers and processors “that should prevent the spread of the avian flu” – including major companies such as Polina, Chahia, Alfa, and other key exporters. He said ministry laboratories checked the “suspicious deaths of chickens” with samples taken from these companies. While Tunisia’s poultry sector is currently free of bird flu, “the threat is still there, and so the monitoring processes are ongoing for wild birds as well as for family or commercial poultry owners,” said Abroughui.

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