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IOL News
3 days ago
- Health
- IOL News
South Africa steps up fight against foot-and-mouth disease with R72 million vaccine order
While foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks are under control in other provinces, KwaZulu-Natal remains a critical concern. Image: Ayanda Ndamane Independent Newspapers Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has announced that the government has placed an urgent order for R72 million worth of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines to fight the disease. South Africa has been battling FMD for several months, prompting key trading partners including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, and China to suspend imports of meat and related animal products from the country. Steenhuisen revealed that intensified control measures are showing positive results, with restrictions expected to be lifted soon in disease management areas across two provinces. 'Since 26 July 2024, a DMA has been in place in the Kouga and Kou-Kamma municipalities in the Eastern Cape to control FMD outbreaks. Through a robust vaccination campaign, 144 424 vaccinations were successfully administered,' said Steenhuisen. 'With the last cases reported in September 2024 and extensive serological surveillance confirming no undetected pockets of the disease, movement restrictions in the Eastern Cape DMA will be lifted soon.' In Limpopo, a DMA has been in place since September 2022. 'Two rounds of vaccination saw 23,024 cattle vaccinated across 34 dip tanks,' Steenhuisen said. 'These positive developments highlight the effectiveness of our collaborative control measures and the dedication of all stakeholders involved,' Steenhuisen added. However, Steenhuisen said restrictions in KwaZulu-Natal will remain in place due to continued circulation of the virus. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ While some outbreaks outside the designated area have been contained, the department has also introduced a risk-based system to assess biosecurity on individual farms. Meanwhile, veterinary teams are investigating new cases reported in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. "Funds for the procurement of the vaccine have been transferred to Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP). The procurement process has started, and the next batch of vaccines is estimated to be delivered by mid-June. "This marks a crucial step forward in the department's vaccination strategy. The department has provisionally costed the vaccine requirements for the 2025/2026 financial year at R1,2 billion, with each vaccine estimated at R100 per dose". Commenting ahead of the release of the country's first-quarter GDP data later this week, Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), said the livestock sector remains under pressure. "The one area that remains a concern is the livestock industry, primarily due to the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. We have already seen various trading partners temporarily banning South Africa's beef exports due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak," Sihlobo said. "Given the sizable share contribution of the livestock industry to South Africa's agricultural gross value added, its challenges are something worth reflecting on when considering South African agricultural performance". IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
The Citizen
4 days ago
- Health
- The Citizen
Government gains momentum in tackling foot and mouth disease
Intensified efforts to control and eradicate foot and mouth disease (FMD) are paying off. This is according to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, who, in a statement on Wednesday, said the process of procuring vaccines through Onderstepoort Biological Products has started, and the next batch of vaccines is expected to be delivered by mid-June. The disease management areas (DMAs) in the two provinces are soon to be lifted, and an urgent order has been placed for much-needed vaccines valued at R72m. 'This marks a crucial step forward in the department's vaccination strategy. The department has provisionally costed the vaccine requirements for the 2025/2026 financial year at R1.2b, with each vaccine estimated at R100 per dose,' Steenhuisen said. Recognising the seriousness of the FMD threat, the minister said he escalated control efforts to the deputy director-general (DGG) for agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management, Dipepeneneng Serage, earlier this month. 'The office of the DDG has already engaged with veterinary services and various industry representatives to detail the actions required to curb the threat.' The minister highlighted that the lifting of the current DMAs in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo is imminent. In the Eastern Cape, disease management areas covering the Kouga and Kou-Kamma Municipalities have been in place since July 26, 2024. Through a robust vaccination campaign, 144 424 vaccinations were successfully administered, and the last confirmed FMD case was reported in September 2024. He added that extensive serological surveillance has found no further signs of infection. Steenhuisen confirmed that the movement restrictions in the Eastern Cape DMA will be lifted soon. Similar success has been reported in the Vhembe District in Limpopo, where a DMA was declared in September 2022 to control an FMD outbreak in dip tanks in the Vhembe Municipality. Two rounds of vaccination saw 23 024 vaccinations administered to cattle across 34 dip tanks, proving highly effective in bringing the outbreak under control. 'These positive developments highlight the effectiveness of our collaborative control measures, and the dedication of all stakeholders involved. The department remains vigilant and committed to implementing proactive strategies to safeguard animal health and the agricultural sector,' said the minister. KZN The minister reported that the DMA in KZN remains in place, since there are still signs of active virus circulation in the area. He said some outbreaks that were detected outside of the DMA were successfully contained with no sign of outward spread of the disease. 'An abattoir in the Vryheid area in the DMA is in the process of being designated to slaughter animals from premises under FMD restrictions. A system has been put in place to assess the level of biosecurity on individual farms, with the intention of aligning the control measures to the biosecurity risks,' the minister explained. Mpumalanga Meanwhile, the minister said a single outbreak was reported on a single farm in the Gert Sibande Municipality in Mpumalanga, in April, which was identified as a trace forward from an auction in KZN. 'Following one round of targeted surveillance of surrounding farms, there are no signs that this outbreak spread to any adjacent farms or other linked locations. The department has started with the second round of surveillance,' the minister said. Gauteng In addition, in Gauteng, new FMD cases have been confirmed in the West Rand and East Rand. The minister noted that an outbreak at a feedlot and adjacent farm were found to be positive in the West Rand Municipality. Initially, the outbreak was linked to an auction in Heidelberg, however follow-up epidemiological investigation indicated a different infection source. 'Veterinary services are testing adjacent premises and linked locations to determine the origin of this outbreak and possible spread.' Additional cases were detected in communal cattle in the East Rand in May. Samples were collected and FMD infection was confirmed. Epidemiological investigations have commenced to identify and test all adjacent and linked locations. Suspension of beef imports The minister announced that the People's Republic of China has suspended imports of cloven-hoofed animals and related products from South Africa due to the spread of the outbreaks in KZN to Mpumalanga and Gauteng. 'Preliminary information obtained confirmed that this suspension includes only beef from South Africa to China. The good news is that the export of wool that complies with the protocol already agreed to has not been affected,' the minister said. He has also urged livestock owners and traders to take note of the incubation period of FMD. He reminded farmers that FMD has an incubation period of up to 14 days, during which animals can appear clinically healthy, before they start showing clinical signs generally associated with FMD. 'It is crucial that newly bought animals are kept separate from the resident herd for at least 28 days, even if a health attestation was issued for the animals. The health attestation and 28-day separation have been a legal requirement since October 2022.' Biosecurity Minister Steenhuisen emphasised the importance of national co-operation in halting the spread of FMD. 'Biosecurity is everybody's responsibility. The department urges all livestock farmers in the country to limit animal movement as far as possible. 'Auctioneers and livestock owners should be vigilant when buying cloven-hoofed animals from provinces in which there are active FMD outbreaks. No cloven-hoofed animals should be accepted from areas under restriction for FMD,' said the minister. – Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
TimesLIVE
28-05-2025
- Health
- TimesLIVE
Agriculture department intensifies fight against foot-and-mouth disease
Animal movement restrictions in the disease management areas (DMA) in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape will be lifted soon after positive results by the department of agriculture to control and eradicate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The department announced an urgent order was placed for much-needed vaccines to the value of R72m. In an update on FMD on Wednesday, the department said agriculture minister John Steenhuisen escalated control efforts to the deputy director-general (DGG): agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management earlier this month. 'The office of the DDG has already engaged veterinary services and various industry representatives to detail the actions required to curb the threat,' it said. The biosecurity, traceability and record keeping of animals bought and sold at auctions and similar industries were raised as a specific concern and this will be addressed by the department in a directive due to be published. Funds for the procurement of the vaccine have been transferred to Onderstepoort Biological Products.
