South Africa (02): (Kwazulu-Natal) cattle, serotype SAT-2, (North-West) Request for Information

[1] KwaZulu-Natal: spread, control
Date: Sat 19 Mar 2022 09:45 SAST
Source: The South African [edited]
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/foot-and-mouth-disease-kzn-kwahlabisa-kwanongoma-mtubatuba-which-regions-how-long-latest-news-updates/


The Department of Agriculture in KwaZulu-Natal has placed a total ban on the movement of livestock in northern parts of the province following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The department says it is trying to curb the spread which has been detected in 3 regions. KwaHlabisa, KwaNongoma and Mtubatuba are among the most affected.

Dr Thembelihle Sikhakhane from the province's department of agriculture's veterinary services said the disease is easily spread when people move their livestock. "We are having an outbreak of FMD and it's spreading and areas that are of concern [are] Hlabisa, Nongoma area[s]. We are currently vaccinating. The biggest spreader of FMD is moving cattle from one area to another, that's why we are in this problem.

"We've been asking our people not to move their livestock, but people have been paying lobolas. The case in point with the Hlabisa outbreak is because someone received a lobola payment, that's why (there is) foot-and-mouth in Hlabisa. We now have a massive problem where everybody is affected; people should not be moving animals," Sikhakhane said.

One of the farmers said this will hit them hard, as they rely on and make a living by selling cows. "Cows are our only hope. They are our source of income which enables us to buy food. Right now we don't know what is going to happen because they (cows) are sick," the farmer said. The farmer also said that he is not sure if they will still be able to take their children to school because they use the very same money they make from selling cows to take their children to school.

KZN Agriculture MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi urged cattle farmers to stop selling cows in order to limit the movement and spread of the FMD. "This will be the case until we are certain that all [cattle] have been vaccinated and that they are negative of foot-and-mouth disease."

[Byline: Nokwanda Ncwane]

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Communicated by:
ProMED

[2] KwaZulu-Natal: spread, control
Date: Fri 18 Mar 2022 17:50 SAST
Source: SABC News [edited]
https://www.sabcnews.com/kzn-monitoring-livestock-movement-after-outbreak-of-foot-and-mouth-disease/


KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture MEC Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi has imposed restrictions on the movement and trading of livestock in the Umkhanyakude district in the north of the province. This follows an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the area. According to the department, over 1000 livestock has been affected. Sithole-Moloi says they will be working together with law enforcement authorities to monitor the movement of animals to curb the spread of the disease to other parts of the province.

"We came here to enforce the restrictions and also to ensure that the movement is being restricted but the impact that has been seen is that we had a few dip tanks that have been affected previously. We're in an understanding that we must cooperate with each other. We will not allow the movement until we are satisfied. Yes, when they see that there's nobody in sight in the area, they feel that they can maneuver and sell to each other so we're saying we are going to look at that, as well as beef up our team.

[Byline: Nonhlakanipho Magwaza]

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Communicated by:
ProMED Rapporteur Mahmoud Orabi

[An administrative map of the KwaZulu-Natal province is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_KwaZulu-Natal. This province borders Mozambique on its north.

According to a media statement published 1 Mar 2022 by South Africa's Department of Agriculture, the FMD epizootic, initially starting May 2021, flared up suddenly in January 2022. A new cluster of infected dip tanks was identified in Hlabisa, between the 2 clusters previously affected, still within the reduced disease management area in KwaZulu-Natal. It remained in communal grazing land, where all epidemiologically linked dip tanks are regarded as at high risk of infection. It was decided to apply vaccination, limited to cattle within the disease management area, in order to reduce the viral load and thus control further spread of the disease.

Additional information on the vaccination project is available at https://nahf.co.za/media-statement-vaccination-to-control-the-outbreak-of-foot-and-mouth-disease-in-kwa-zulu-natal-2022-03-02/. - Mod.AS]

[3] North-West: cattle, suspected
Date: Sat 19 Mar 2022 [accessed]
Source: morvet.com [abridged, edited]
https://morvet.co.za/

Cases of foot-and-mouth disease have occurred in the Potchefstroom-Ventersdorp area.

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Communicated by:
ProMED

[For the location of the area between Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp, in the North-West Province, see map at https://tinyurl.com/2p8ne8xt. On its north, the North-West province borders Botswana.

Official confirmation or otherwise, as well as details of the serotype involved in the NW event, is requested.

South Africa has 9 provinces; they are presented on a map at https://www.southafrica.to/provinces/provinces.php. - Mod.AS]