30 000 dead ostriches economic ripple

On the 9 August 2004 around 30 000 ostriches were culled due evidense of Avian flu H5N2 in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Some questions still remain hanging:
1) Did the ostriches have the antibodies from a prevoius outbreak?
2) Why the extreme measure in the Eastern Cape and not in the rest of South Africa ?
3) Why were there no imediate roadblocks instituted by the SA government?
4) Did anybody preserve the antibodies for further research?

Many farm birds were relaesed to wild/mountains to prevent infection. The infected birds were burried in mass graves. Today in the Eastern Cape due to teh mass cull ostrich breeders are rare. The Western Cape is now main source of chicks and chick prices have droped ealy in 2006 due to over supply. Ostrich suppliers in Graaf Reinet and Port Elizabeth were crippled and still working hard to enter market. Strategic buy outs of Eastern Cape tanneries have occured by larger players and is causing interesting ripples in markets.