AgriSA warns on FMD outbreak
Agricultural trade association Agri South Africa (AgriSA) raised concern on 17 March, 2011, about the readiness of state veterinary bodies to contain foot and mouth disease (FMD) as vets have not yet identified the three-week-old strain of the disease in KwaZulu-Natal.
AgriSA fears that the effects of the outbreak, which has halted the export of all cloven-hoofed animals including auctions in the Southern African Development Community region, will soon lead to a complete collapse of the small-scale stock and game farming sector due to a lack of cash flow.
AgriSA president Johannes Muller said that producers would soon be unable to service their loans as the markets were not buying any of their wool, meat, hide or game products.
Robin Barnsley, KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union president, said that while scientists in the provincial veterinary division were “working night and day” analysing hundreds of samples collected from around the province, there was insufficient manpower because of unfilled posts.
State vets had yet to identify the strain of the disease for an appropriate vaccine to be developed or imported, he said.
The government has had problems controlling the movement of animals in rural villages, districts and towns because it is not yet known which areas have been affected.
Animals have tested positive for FMD in Mtubatuba and a few cases have surfaced to the north of the Mfolozi River. Mr Muller said scientists the world over believed an FMD vaccination programme was the answer to economic losses, social upheaval and psychological trauma.
AgriSA economist Dawie Maree said his organisation and livestock industry bodies had undertaken to do a full assessment of the state of veterinary services and to develop a national contingency plan for future outbreaks.
