JOHANNESBURG – In the race to curb the national outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen welcomed the one million high-potency FMD vaccines that arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday (21 February).
According to the Department of Agriculture it is their new 10-year eradication strategy to vaccinate the national herd of over 14 million cattle in order to secure FMD-free status with vaccination. The vaccines arrived from Biogénesis Bagó in Argentina.
FMD is an infectious disease and cause painful sores in the mouth and around the hooves of cloven-hoofed animals. These animals include cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The outbreak has also been declared as a national disaster by the South African government recently.
“We have decided to vaccinate the national herd of 14 million cattle. This requires 28 million vaccines over the next 12 months,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address earlier in February.
“The state will facilitate the acquisition of the vaccines centrally to ensure that we get the right vaccine for the particular strain of the virus in South Africa. We will work closely with the private sector to enable efficient rollout and most importantly, we will ensure that commercial, private and communal farmers have immediate access to vaccines.”
On Friday (20 February) Western Cape Premier Alan Winde together with Dr Ivan Meyer, Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, gave an update on the province’s response to the FMD outbreak. Meyer assured citizens that there is no food security risk.
“The Western Cape have five confirmed cases of Foot-and-Mouth Disease. Why is this important for agriculture? It is very important because agriculture is 11% of the Western Cape’s economy and the livestock industry in the Western Cape is [worth] about R13.5 billion. So, this is a significant industry here in the Western Cape. It also employ about 50 000 people. As the Premier has indicated there is no need to panic and there is also no shortage in meat or milk, but it does require strict control measures to prevent the spread of Foot-and-Mouth Disease.”
In the meantime a provincial FMD hotline has been set up in the Western Cape. The contact number is 080 928 4102 and the email address is fmdhotline@westerncape.gov.za. The National FMD Control Centre Toll-Free Number is 0860 246 640.
