A week into the countrywide ban, and after taking stock of the situation, the decision has not been taken lightly as 11 new outbreaks are recorded.
The suspension on the movement of cattle in SA has been extended in a bid to halt Foot and Mouth disease.
The department is looking at uplifting the ban on those provinces that have no cases of foot and mouth in the coming week.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development said 11 new outbreaks of the disease has been recorded across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, bringing the total number of infected cattle to 127.
“During the week 18 to 25 August 2022, 11 new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease were confined by the laboratory, 5 in KZN, 5 in the Free State and 1 in Gauteng. This brings the total number of infected properties to 127,” the department said.
“These new cases were likely already on the farms at the time when the standstill was initiated, and some are neighbours of already infected properties with contiguous spread. Given the incubation period and the delay in showing clinical signs, the effect of the standstill will be better appreciated after 2 weeks,” the department said.
The ministry took a decision to suspend all movement of cattle in the entire country last month in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.
The department said it regretted the economic impact of the disease on farming enterprises and said that the decision was not taken lightly, with the medium to long-term impact on the livestock industry at the centre of the decision.
“In the past week, we received mixed messages, those of support and those of criticising the decision. By far the majority of messages were those of support and we thank the industry,” noted the department.
Louw van Reenen, the spokesperson for the Red Meat and Livestock Primary Cluster and chief executive of the Beefmaster Group, was concerned about the impact on the supply chain in the meat and livestock industry if the movement of cattle is extended beyond the 21-day limit imposed by Minister Thoko Didiza.
“The longer the ban continues, the more risk it carries to all who operate in the sector. We are hopeful that the disease is brought under control within the three-week period to avoid any negative fall-out,” said Van Reenen, adding that everyone was impacted by the restrictions, including meat processing facilities, who, together with the feed-lots, were not allowed to buy cattle for stock purposes.
However he said the manner in which industry and government had co-operated on the issue in the past week served as a great example of what was possible in the future.
The cluster said the SA government’s announcement of the temporary suspension was necessary, albeit a case of too little too late.
Van Reenen said that industry had wanted the country to prioritise foot-and-mouth disease with a sense of urgency.
Since the suspension was imposed, Minister Didiza led her team in meeting with the Premiers and executives of KZN and Free State with the aim of heightening the importance and impact of the disease and to solicit support from all other role players, in the past week.
Veterinary Services continues to engage internally and with stakeholders.
Following public reports of suspicion, epidemiological investigations were conducted at 28 properties and samples were collected, the department said in an update.
“Of these, none came back positive. However, routine surveillance around infected areas and properties continued in the past week, with over 39 properties having been visited in the Free State and 5 testing positive. Vaccination of affected properties continued during the past week, with 19 000 cattle vaccinated in Gauteng Province, 26 073 in Mpumalanga and 2 500 in KZN,” the department said.
After the data was evaluated the ban on the movement of cattle will remain in place and this status will again be considered at the end of week 2 of the standstill, the department announced.
“We are also looking at uplifting the ban on those provinces that have no cases of foot and mouth in the coming week.”
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