By Lloyd Phillips
Authorities have confirmed recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in parts of KwaZulu-Natal outside of the current Disease Management Area for this disease in the province. Commercial livestock farmers surrounding these latest outbreaks are on tenterhooks.
Farmers in the commercial livestock farming districts of Newcastle and Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal are reportedly anxious following the recent official confirmation of multiple outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease there. African Farming’s investigations have found that these outbreaks are reportedly among communally farmed livestock in the expansive Osizweni area.
A statement released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Agriculture reads, “[Communal] dip tanks in newly affected areas have also been placed under quarantine. These outbreaks highlight the persistent threat of foot-and-mouth disease and the critical need for stringent control measures to prevent its spread.”
Sources with knowledge of the area, who spoke to African Farming on condition of anonymity, say the Newcastle and Vryheid districts – which are about 115 km apart – and the area in between them are home to extensive commercial dairy, beef and sheep farming. Some of these farms border the Osizweni area.
The sources say they and other commercial livestock farmers there are deeply concerned that state animal health authorities are allegedly responding too slowly in implementing decisive and strict measures to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease within and from Osizweni.
African Farming has it on good authority that at the time of publication there are reportedly at least five confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the Osizweni area. These have reportedly been discovered and confirmed since approximately mid-February to date.
At least 140 open outbreaks
As previously reported by African Farming, the minister of agriculture, John Steenhuisen, recently met with Zulu king Misuzulu kaZwelithini in KwaZulu-Natal to discuss, among other topics, the ongoing challenges with foot-and-mouth disease in this province.
A related statement by the Ministry of Agriculture said there were more than 140 active outbreaks of this disease across communal dip tank areas, small-scale farms and five game reserves in KwaZulu-Natal.
These open, and some now closed, outbreaks have occurred in the province since January 2021 to date.
Over these past four years, various credible sources have repeatedly told African Farming that the most likely causes of the initiation and spread of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal are wildlife-to-livestock transmission and the either deliberate or inadvertent – yet still illegal – movement of livestock out of the quarantine or Disease Management Areas.
“Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen stressed the importance of strict compliance with biosecurity protocols, and urged farmers and livestock owners to promptly report any suspected cases to veterinary authorities,” read the department’s statement on Wednesday. The anonymous sources that spoke to African Farming said they hoped that state animal health authorities will prioritise urgent and effective practical actions over interminable meetings and talk-shops to curb the foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in the Osizweni area.
