A total of 200 000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine have arrived at provincial animal health headquarters in KwaZulu-Natal’s capital, Pietermaritzburg. The vaccination campaign reportedly started on Thursday, 26 February in the south of the province. However, some farmers are reportedly confused and suspicious about what the state expects from them.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal, said in a statement that veterinary services in her department (KZN DARD) selected the uGu and Harry Gwala district municipalities in southern KwaZulu-Natal to be the first vaccinated as part of South Africa’s wider national FMD vaccination campaign.
This choice was made because the first 200 000 doses of the FMD vaccine from Biogénesis Bagó in Argentina provide protection against the SAT1 and SAT2 strains, and not the SAT3 strain, of this disease.
MEC kaMadlopha-Mthethwa said, “[The Ugu and Harry Gwala] districts have not reported any cases of the SAT3 FMD strain. Taking our mass vaccination drive to northern KwaZulu-Natal [where the SAT3 FMD strain has also been confirmed] would have been ineffective and futile [with this current batch of 200 000 doses].”
The KZN DARD reported that the vaccination campaign in southern KwaZulu-Natal is also part of a strategy to first vaccinate cattle in areas of the province that border other provinces and countries, followed by vaccinations moving inwards. Southern KwaZulu-Natal borders the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
The department added that once KwaZulu-Natal’s vaccination campaign is in full swing, there will be 45 vaccination teams at 45 different locations collectively capable of vaccinating between 45 000 and 90 000 cattle daily. The province’s entire cattle herd is estimated at 2.4 million head.
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Private Veterinarians can Help Vaccinate
“Both state and registered private veterinarians are now authorised to administer [FMD] vaccines to speed up the campaign. Private veterinarians are encouraged to register with the [national] Department of Agriculture to assist in the rollout and expand the available workforce.”
KwaZulu-Natal’s cattle owners whose animals are vaccinated will have the relevant information captured on the central database of the state’s Livestock Identification and Traceability System (LITS).
Dr Kolisa Nokoyo, deputy director of the state’s Veterinary Diagnostic Services in KwaZulu-Natal, said the Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg has sufficient cold rooms and backup generators to correctly store the existing and anticipated numerous doses of FMD vaccines for the province.
“Allerton Laboratory will soon be upgraded to enable testing of all blood samples, including those of suspicious FMD cases. Once it is upgraded it will address the backlog of FMD results,” said Dr Nokoyo.
The KZN DARD says the current vaccination campaign in southern KwaZulu-Natal will start with all the communal cattle in the Ugu district, followed by the commercial cattle there. This is anticipated to take six days starting 26 February. Thereafter, the same process will reportedly start in the Harry Gwala district.
Meanwhile, African Farming is receiving reports that there are commercial beef and dairy farmers in KwaZulu-Natal who are concerned about some of the clauses contained in the national Department of Agriculture’s Application for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccination that was recently distributed countrywide.
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Indemnity for the State?
These farmers are reportedly particularly suspicious of the clauses that indemnify the state against any possible failings and consequences related to the vaccines and vaccination processes.
WhatsApp messages forwarded to African Farming, which do not identify the original writers, include statements such as:
- “The state has caused the problem and now we must indemnify them?”
- “Sorry, I am not prepared to sign such a declaration and bind myself to what is contained therein. These forms are tantamount to signing a blank, undated cheque.”
- “What about exonerating the government if the vaccine gives side-effects?”
The KwaZulu-Natal Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (KZN RPO) is reportedly seeking a meeting with the provincial animal health authorities to achieve clarity on these concerns being raised.
Angus Williamson, chairperson of the KZN RPO and vice-chairperson of the national RPO, recently reached out to Federico Maisonnave, a beef farmer in Uruguay, to get his insights into the safety of the Biogénesis Bagó FMD vaccine from Argentina. In Maisonnave’s voice message via WhatsApp, he says the herd of 11 000 head he manages has experienced no negative effects from this vaccine, including when it was administered to the herd’s 4 000 pregnant breeding cows.
“Last season we achieved 92% conception rate. This vaccine doesn’t do anything to the fertility of the herd. It works very well.”
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