Health officials say animals at the farm contracted a benign strain of the avian flu only two years after an outbreak swept across the country and prompted a ban on imports to the European Union.
In 2004, South Africa culled around 15,000 ostriches to contain the highly contagious disease.
The Department of Agriculture says the H5N2 strain, which is deadly to animals, yet unlike the H5N1 variety, is harmless to humans, "was detected near Mossel Bay seems rather similar to the one that South Africa eradicated successfully from ostriches in 2004/2005 and that never crossed over to chickens."
The EU has since resumed ostrich imports, yet the new outbreak may make lawmakers reconsider.
Despite the outbreak, the Department maintains, "South African ostrich and poultry meat remains safe for consumption."
