Just when it appeared that Botswana was getting its outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) under control, the country has announced a new outbreak. This one is at an important livestock facility over 500 kilometres from other recent outbreaks in that country, but less than 5 km from the nearest outbreak in South Africa.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Since the beginning of this year, Botswana has experienced multiple outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease among communal cattle in the country’s disease control zones 6B and 3C in the far north-east along the border with Zimbabwe.
Botswana’s animal health authorities immediately responded with quarantines, strict movement controls for livestock and the products thereof within and between disease control zones considered high risk, and a targeted vaccination campaign for cattle within zones 6B and 3C and along buffer areas bordering these zones.
From what African Farming understands, the last of these outbreaks was in early February.
However, Botswana’s Ministry of Lands and Agriculture (MoLA) issued a statement on 2 April to announced an outbreak of FMD has now been confirmed at the Ramatlabama National Artificial Insemination Laboratory and Training Centre (NAIL) in the Goodhope district of disease control zone 11 in the country’s south.
Zone 11, which lies about 530km as the crow flies from zones 6B and 3C, has to date been classified by the World Organisation for Animal Health as FMD-free without vaccination. This classification has enabled Botswana to export beef from zone 11 and the country’s other similarly classified zones to notably biosecurity-conscious regions and countries, like the European Union and Norway.
FMD Threatens Hundreds of ‘Elite’ Cattle
MoLA’s latest statement announces that, in response to the outbreak at NAIL in zone 11, most exports of Botswana’s beef and products from other cloven-hoofed animals are again suspended. Only zone 2 may continue exporting products to the likes of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, but subject to each importing country’s conditions.
“The Ramatlabama NAIL is under quarantine. Therefore, movement of cloven-hoofed animals and their derived fresh products, including semen, is not allowed into and out of the farm.”
Ramatlabama NAIL was established in 1952. Under MoLA, it has reportedly become a state-of-the-art facility aimed at modernising Botswana’s beef and dairy herds. Its primary mission is to produce and distribute high-quality bovine germplasm, namely semen and embryos, from elite breeds to small-scale and commercial farmers at subsidised rates.
Reports indicate that NAIL houses over 200 “elite” breeding cattle.
The facility also reportedly serves as a training facility for the likes of artificial insemination and reproductive technologies. Unlike natural mating, controlled artificial insemination is intended to help enhance meat quality while preventing the spread of reproductive diseases. Ramatlabama NAIL is central to Botswana’s “Reset Agenda” aimed at transitioning the country from a raw meat exporter to a global leader in high-value agricultural genetics.
Although the origins of the FMD outbreak at Botswana’s Ramatlabama NAIL are under investigation, from what African Farming can ascertain, the next nearest confirmed presence of FMD is in the Ramatlabama area of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in South Africa’s North West Province. Although these two locations lie on either side of the South Africa/Botswana border reportedly comprising only a fence, they are less than 5km apart as the crow flies.
Also read:
FMD in Botswana: Thousands vaccinated, but export markets suspend meat imports
FMD confirmed in Botswana; targeted vaccinations begun
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