South Africa’s government asked the nation’s trade commission to consider temporarily scrapping a duty on chicken imports as the domestic poultry industry battles a deadly outbreak of avian flu.

The South African government says nearly 2.5 million chickens have been culled in an effort to contain outbreaks of two separate strains of avian influenza that have threatened to create a shortage of

South Africa continues to face a massive shortage of chicken meat and eggs due to a deadly outbreak of avian flu. Retailers are now rationing eggs to their customers.