NEWS
F rom page 5
burg is third. Other areas in
Gauteng in the top ten in
South Africa are Vereeniging,
Sebokeng and Diepkloof.
According to the National
Environment Management:
Air Quality Act, 2004, it is a
legal requirement that
provinces and municipalities
must compile and implement
air quality management plans.
The challenges in Gauteng
are great.
Take Ekurhuleni as an
example:
Why Gauteng!s air is so polluted,
and what you can do to make your
own air cleaner
K it has 120 informal
settlements of which 60%
have no electricity, so they are
coal, paraffin and wood
dependent;
K it has more than 20
townships, which are seasonal
coal users;
K it lists more than eight
other categories of air
pollution sources, including
heavy industry and mine
dumps;
K there are three national
roads and a number of
regional roads carrying about
1,2 million vehicles per day
on average, and,
K it boasts the biggest airport
in Africa, which contributes to
air pollution as well.
However, cleaner air also
starts with each one of us as
individuals. Smallholders
think that because we live in
semi-rural areas we are not
Continued on page 8
Bird ‘flu outbreak near Gauteng could spread
W
ith poultry imports
from Zimbabwe
halted after an
outbreak of the highly
contagious H5N8 strain of
avian influenza (bird 'flu)
there were reports as we
went to press in the last week
of June of an outbreak at a
broiler farm in southern
Mpumalanga near the
Gauteng border.
According to sources 5 000
chickens had died of the
disease, while the remaining
19 000 at the farm were
culled, and the property
placed under quarantine.
Bird 'flu is a fatal viral
infection. It is usually
transmitted by wild birds
coming into contact with
domestic flocks and keepers
of free range chickens are
therefore urged to keep a
close watch on their stock,
which will inevitably come
into contact with pigeons,
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hadedas, guineafowl and
other free flying species as
they roam around during the
course of their day.
While battery-reared and
farmed poultry are less likely
to come into contact with
wild birds, and are thus
protected to some extent
from infection, an outbreak in
the intensive conditions of a
poultry farm will spread
rapidly through the entire
flock.