- Foot and mouth disease outbreaks are spreading faster than vaccinations can keep up with farmers scared of losing everything.
- South Africa recorded 270 outbreaks across five provinces with only 21 resolved while vaccines are imported from Botswana.
Foot-and-mouth disease is hitting livestock across South Africa, with recent outbreaks reported in several provinces, especially in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen says that while the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is almost finished producing a vaccine in the country, more vaccines will be brought in from Botswana in the meantime.
“What we are going to have to do is start a massive vaccination programme, which means in the short term we’re going to have to use BVI, Botswana Vaccine Institute. We have to bring in more vaccines from there, and we’re going to have a steady flow of vaccines coming in from Botswana, but the goal is that in a year or two we’ll be making our own here in South Africa,” Steenhuisen said at a press briefing on Monday.
The ARC is almost finished with a vaccine that will deal with three types of foot-and-mouth disease so South Africa can then have its own vaccine.
Steenhuisen says there is a wish to eventually reach a foot-and-mouth-free status without vaccination, just like Brazil has now done.
He says that while this is good, it will need talks with people in the sector.
“There are problems with vaccines. For instance, it affects the fifth quarter, which is very important for South African food security. A lot of poorer households rely on the fifth quarter to provide food for them and their families. Under the current rules, if you have an FMD situation you have to throw away the fifth quarter,” Steenhuisen said.
“So there are problems there, although there is some new research that shows you can safely treat the fifth quarter, and we’re busy using the ARC now to help guide us in that respect.”
CEO of the Red Meat Producers Association Frikkie Maré says current vaccinations are simply not keeping up with outbreaks and that farmers are scared.
“Right now, as we speak, the situation is bad. There are almost new outbreaks on small farms as well as commercial farms and informal settlements daily. Vaccinations do not keep up with the outbreaks, and our members are really scared,” Maré told SABC News.
“If this is found on your property you are basically being cut off economically. You can’t move your animals, you cannot do anything, you don’t have a source of income. So the producers are really scared to get infected.”
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But farmers say vaccinations are needed, and fast.
“We urgently need enough vaccines. It doesn’t look like Botswana Vaccine Institute, where we are currently bringing vaccines from, can make enough, and we will have to look at other suppliers so that we can, as fast as possible, vaccinate all the affected areas, all the farms,” Maré said.
Maré said they understand animals cannot move freely, but solutions are needed once animals have been vaccinated and stayed on the farm for 28 days after vaccination so that markets open up for farmers to get income.
“We must remember in KwaZulu-Natal the DMA was increased at the end of February. Up to today a lot of those farmers still don’t have market access. They haven’t received any income since the end of February, which is quite a problem,” he said.
As of July, South Africa recorded a total of 270 foot-and-mouth outbreaks across five provinces. Of these, 249 outbreaks remain unresolved, while 21 have been declared resolved.
