South Africa has reported the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, on two poultry farms in the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health said on Wednesday.

The cases were the first in South Africa since September last year, Paris-based WOAH said in a notification.

South Africa's poultry sector has been recovering from an outbreak in 2023 that led to the loss of a third of the national chicken flock. The industry has been wary of a resurgence of the diseases amid criticism of the rollout of a government vaccination programme.

Bird flu has ravaged poultry flocks worldwide in recent years, including in the United States, and top poultry exporter Brazil this year reported its first known case on a commercial farm.

In South Africa, the new outbreaks killed 1,150 poultry birds on the affected firms, Paris-based WOAH said, citing South African authorities.

This included 300 birds killed on a farm in Tswaing in North West province and 850 birds that died on a farm in Mkhondo in Mpumalanga province.