A new Proudly South African product can be used as a disinfectant in the fight against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which has already brought many farms in the country to their knees.
By Charl van Rooyen, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Tests conducted by the Agricultural Research Council’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in Pretoria have shown the product is effective in rendering the FMD virus harmless.
“ADI Surface Disinfectant has passed the disinfection test against the FMD virus,” a report states.
Well-known plan maker Mike Bosch, a chicken and cattle farmer from Bela-Bela in Limpopo, has also tested the product extensively and says he is highly satisfied with the results he has achieved in practice.
The product, developed by Pretoria entrepreneur Tony Schlebusch, is known as ADI and is a surface disinfectant. It is currently distributed by Agridisinfect in Pretoria.
Bosch, breeder of the well-known Boschveld chicken and former chairperson of the Beefmaster Cattle Breeders’ Association, first tested the product on his chicken farm. Within a month, mortality dropped by 90% and has since remained below 4% from day-old chicks to 18-week-old pullets ready to lay eggs.
The product has been particularly effective in controlling coryza, digestive upsets and respiratory diseases.
Also read: Mike Bosch’s chickens are king in Africa
Bosch then introduced ADI to his feedlot, which has capacity for 750 cattle. There, too, it had a positive effect by significantly reducing respiratory diseases associated with dusty feedlot conditions.
His son, Pieter, farms sheep and pigs on their two farms outside Bela-Bela. These include animals with cloven hooves that are susceptible to FMD. The product is used to disinfect vehicles transporting chickens and cattle, as well as in footbaths on the chicken farm. It is also used to disinfect eggs, chicks and incubators.
ADI is mixed with water for use in foot and wheel dips when people and vehicles arrive at a farm, and it is also sprayed on vehicles. Once mixed, the product retains its effectiveness for up to seven days.
Bosch acknowledges that FMD is an extremely dangerous disease causing severe disruption in the meat industry, but he believes crisis management alone is not the answer.
“Vaccines are important and the movement of cloven-hoofed animals must be strictly controlled, but farmers must also focus on preventive management,” he says. Disinfection, he adds, plays a crucial role.
Bosch uses 90g ADI sachets, mixed with water in a 16-litre backpack sprayer, to disinfect eggs and equipment. For vehicles and wheel dips 5kg containers are used.
Laboratories in South Africa accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (Sanas) have confirmed the product, which has undergone rigorous testing, kills all harmful bacteria. It is registered with the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) (Act 5, FNR529/293389/140/1087).
Also read: FMD | Biosecurity – ‘Keep your farm gates closed!’
Craig Fourie, one of Agridisinfect’s directors, told African Farming the ARC’s results are highly significant in the fight against FMD when the product is used preventively to disinfect equipment, trucks and foot and wheel dips.
“Dr Livio Heath, former head of ARC Onderstepoort, told us ADI’s eradication capacity is the highest they have tested so far. In addition, the formula is non-toxic, as confirmed by an Intertek toxicology safety assessment report,” Fourie says.
According to Fourie, the active ingredients are sodium persulfate and potassium persulfate, and the product kills 99.9999% of all harmful bacteria.
The product was developed to eliminate pathogens, particularly waterborne pathogens, which are becoming an increasing problem in South Africa due to the discharge of untreated sewage into rivers. These pathogens include E. coli, salmonella and shigella, which can cause cholera and typhoid fever in humans.
Enquiries: Mike Bosch, 083 453 0954
Also read:
FMD | Argentine vaccine could be in SA soon
FMD | Strategy will target feedlots and high-risk areas first
FMD | As the crisis deepens, the livestock industry calls for transparency and action
