Rustenburg- Five farms in the Potchefstroom area in North West Province have been quarantined following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, the provincial department of agriculture and rural development said.
Spokesperson Emelda Setlhako said the farms had been placed in precautionary quarantine.
She said a joint operation centre has been set up including, among others, a team of veterinarians from the North West Province’s department of agriculture and rural development, provincial disaster management office, farmer’s unions and the national department of agriculture, land reform and rural development.
"The working team, consisting of members from the Veterinary Services, is currently in and around the area and all other farms which connects the original property to undertake inspections and collect samples where significant clinical signs are presented.
"The team is conducting inspections and surveillance through blood sampling in order to determine the extent of the spread."
She said an auction in Potchefstroom received 12 cattle from one of the infected farms and there was “forward tracing” from the auction to all the farms the livestock were destined.
"About 217 cattle, sheep and goats that were sold at the Potchefstroom auction have all been traced to Gauteng (in Vanderbijlpark, Westonaria, Kempton Park), Free State and North West Province (in Ventersdorp and Potchefstroom) and the farms have been visited. Gauteng and Free State veterinary services have been informed," she said.
Setlhako said the names of the buyers were known to veterinary services unit of the North West Province.
"The department would like to call on animal farmers not to panic. The veterinary services team is hard at work to ensure that all precautionary measures are undertaken to prevent the further spread of the disease.
"The department also urges farmers against vaccinating animals for foot-and-mouth disease, as vaccines without authorisation can result in vaccinated animals testing positive and being classified as infected resulting in further measures being imposed on the farm," she said.
She said in North West Province, the vaccination of cattle and pigs against foot and mouth disease was not permitted and was therefore illegal.
"The sale of such vaccines is also illegal. Vaccines that are used for this purpose need to be registered and authorised by the national director animal health for such purpose and as such, they are only in the hands of government officials."
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals of domestic and wild origin.
It presents with sores in the mouth and in between the digits of hooves causing them to be depressed, reluctant to eat and lame. The disease does not affect humans and the meat from such animals is safe to eat when it has been treated in the prescribed manner.
"Farmers are advised to be on the lookout for clinical signs that resemble the disease and report them immediately to the nearest state veterinary office," she said.
On March 2, the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, announced a massive animals vaccination campaign in the Disease Management Area (DMA), following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the new hotspot KwaHlabisa, in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a statement, spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo, said the outbreak was showing signs of active spread and some of the newly affected dip tanks were close to the boundary of the Disease Management Area and the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
"This situation warrants the use of vaccination to reduce the viral load and, thus, control further spread of the disease. At this stage, the vaccination will be limited to cattle within the DMA, in order to slow down the spread of the disease, as well as to prevent spread outside the DMA and into the game reserve.
"The intention is also not to vaccinate all animals inside the DMA, but only as necessary, to contain the spread of the disease. A risk-based approach will be followed, to ensure that the areas at highest risk are vaccinated first. It is estimated that 40 000 animals will be vaccinated during the initial vaccination campaign, which will commence this month," Ngcobo said.
He said in January 2022, there had been a sudden flare up of the foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal, which was first reported in May 2021.
"A new cluster of infected dip tanks was identified in Hlabisa, between the two clusters previously affected. This new cluster is still within the reduced DMA in KwaZulu-Natal, however, it remains in communal grazing land, where all epidemiologically linked dip tanks are at a high risk of infection," Ngcobo.
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