As South Africa heads to the celebration of National Braai Day in just over a week from now, the government has advised all livestock farmers nationwide to limit animal movement as much as possible due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
Sara-Lea van Eeden, the Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson on FMD, said on Friday that cloven-hoofed animals should not be moved unless absolutely necessary.
Van Eeden said limiting movement provides an opportunity to identify and quarantine further undetected, affected properties, thus preventing any further spread of the disease.
She said the significance of the incubation period for FMD cannot be overstated.
“During this period, animals may appear healthy while shedding the virus and not yet displaying clinical signs of the disease.
“Farmers are again urged to observe stringent biosecurity measures on their farms to protect their herds from infection,” Van Eeden said.
“Section 11 of the Animal Diseases Act imposes a legal duty on animal owners or managers to take all reasonable steps to prevent their animals from becoming infected and to prevent the spread of any disease from their animals or land to others.”
In July, the department declared a FMD Disease Management Area (DMA) to include parts of the Kouga and Koukamma municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province. The primary objective of the DMA was to prevent the spread of FMD from the affected areas, where outbreaks have been ongoing since May.
The DMA encompasses regions where control measures are strictly enforced to minimise the risk of disease transmission beyond the designated boundaries.
Giving an update on the current status of the FMD outbreak, the department said currently, 33 farms in the Humansdorp area and one farm in the East London area had been confirmed as positive for FMD and have undergone vaccination.
The Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has expressed serious concern over the recurring clinical signs on certain farms within the DMA that were previously infected or vaccinated.
Steenhuisen said this pointed to ongoing virus circulation on these farms and highlighted the high risk of outward spread.
“Strict biosecurity measures are essential. Clinical signs of FMD have also been detected on two farms near the borders of the DMA,” Steenhuisen said.
“This serves as a strong warning to farming communities in the area to rigorously enforce biosecurity protocols on their farms and adhere to the movement restrictions imposed within the DMA.”
The department said an additional 36 farms have been pre-emptively vaccinated to mitigate the severity of clinical signs in case of infection.
Since the outbreak's onset in May this year, a total of 96 906 cattle and 635 sheep have been vaccinated in the Eastern Cape. Over 12 000 animals had also received a second vaccination following reports of virus flare-ups on certain properties.
According to the Department of Agriculture, statistics reflecting the movement permit applications processed to date showed that outside the DMA, 610 applications were received, processed, and approved by the State Veterinary office.
Some 19 applications were denied due to various reasons, including non-compliance with processes, requests to move cattle to restricted areas such as Knysna, or attempting to move livestock from vaccinated farms to non-registered FMD abattoirs.
Within the DMA, 25 applications were received and sent to the relevant authorities for approval where 19 applications were approved. Six applications were still pending.
To assist farmers in reducing the number of animals on infected and/or vaccinated farms, the department’s director of animal health had designated two abattoirs for the slaughter of cloven-hoofed animals from farms under FMD quarantine.
Four farms had been granted permission for controlled slaughter at these abattoirs. So far, 56 cattle have been slaughtered in the Humansdorp area and 40 in the East London area.
Controlled slaughter ensured that FMD risk materials were properly processed or disposed of, with only safe products released into the local market.
Meat from farms under FMD restrictions was not eligible for export due to certification limitations, even though it remained safe for human consumption.
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