By Charl van Rooyen
South Africa urgently needs a functional operational control room again where new outbreaks of highly contagious animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, can be mapped rapidly so that control measures can be immediately implemented and coordinated.
Such a control room should be staffed by two people who record new outbreaks and daily steps, such as further tests and vaccinations per region and per province, on maps to keep track of the extent of foot-and-mouth disease in particular, said Dr Danie Odendaal, director of the Veterinary Network, at the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation’s North West Congress in Lichtenburg.
Then action plans and human resources can be effectively coordinated to stop the spread of the disease from these areas.
“If you can control foot-and-mouth disease for three weeks in the area where it has been reported, you have almost won the battle. If such steps are not taken, farmers could lose their entire herds.”
Odendaal said the state’s existing Geographic Information System (GIS) must be effectively staffed again to collect, verify and record information on a daily basis. “Someone has to sit there and enter the data. The whole country depends on such an operations room. It is not just about controlling foot-and-mouth disease, but also about preventing a ‘wildfire’; thus preventing it from completely getting out of hand. Therefore, dedicated people must be re-appointed as soon as possible.”
In addition, a contingency plan must be drawn up so that everyone knows what action to take after a new case is reported and confirmed.
A national operating system is also needed for reporting foot-and-mouth disease and to take responsibility for issuing electronic transport permits for healthy animals to eliminate red tape.
Inform the minister
Odendaal proposed that a technical delegation be appointed to present the plan to the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, so that it can be implemented immediately. It is not necessary to first appoint a committee to discuss it. The proposal is well thought out and just needs to be implemented.
The control of an outbreak will not be effective if cattle cannot be vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease. Therefore, the help of a private vaccine manufacturer must be called in to get the production of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine up and running at the Transboundary Animal Disease Research Unit (TAD) at Onderstepoort within the next six months. Vaccinations must be undertaken strategically, such as where there are outbreaks and possibly in the future in feedlots and at dairies.
He said the good news is there is already a system in place for private veterinarians to report animal diseases.
Dr Faffa Malan, recently retired manager of the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (Ruvasa), used to publish a monthly report on this. Odendaal, who processes the vets’ reports, is now handling it. He is already strongly supported by Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS).
An example of the benefit of the reporting system is that Odendaal discovered the large scale of livestock poisoning by inkberries recently. It is found on many farms and is eagerly eaten “to the ground” by livestock. The berries of the shrub are so poisonous that an animal does not walk far before it falls down.
Redwater hits hard
He said Asiatic redwater is currently the biggest cause of cattle deaths. The disease is already occurring throughout the Northern Free State and is on the border with the North West Province. The problem is the symptoms are not necessarily visible. The farmer only finds out that his animals have the disease when it is too late to do anything about it.
Many diseases are effectively controlled by vaccination. Some are produced by Onderstepoort Biological Services, which does not always have stock when farmers urgently need it. “Design Biologix as a private vaccine manufacturer is incredible and there is almost no vaccine that it cannot make.”
Odendaal explained what livestock farmers can do to keep their herds healthy in collaboration with a veterinarian, prevent deaths and make better decisions. He developed a management system according to which a farmer must regularly – from daily to annual – take certain steps. By posting the plan on a wall in his office, he can see when certain steps require his attention. Some of the steps are determined based on observations by the farmer and his workers. “With this, the livestock farmer can enter a new level of herd health.”
