The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is satisfied that controls have been put in place to curb the spread of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Mpumalanga, following the 2022 outbreak at Victor Khanye Local Municipality, in the Nkangala District Municipality.
The committee is in Mpumalanga on a week-long oversight programme visit. It received a briefing yesterday from the Chief Director of the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs, Dr Bheki Cele, on the government’s interventions and response to improve surveillance and control of FMD. FMD has a negative impact on the export of cloven-hoofed animals and their products,
In briefing the committee, Dr Cele said due to the presence of FMD virus, Mpumalanga has been divided into three disease control zones. The zones are:
- Infected zone (vaccinations once in four months, weekly inspections, movement controls, quarantine)
- Protection zone (Protection zone with vaccination and protection zone without vaccination)
- Free zone (no vaccinations practiced: entire Nkangala and Gert Sibande); regular inspections practised at borderline areas and farms)
Mpumalanga is one of the three provinces endemically infected with FMD due to the presence of infected buffalo in Kruger National Park. These buffalo also have a high prevalence of corridor disease, TB and brucellosis. The municipality was in the past in an FMD-free zone according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), which meant that there were no trade restrictions on cloven hoofed and related products. Other infected provinces are KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.
FMD broke out on 3 August 2022 at Victor Khanye Local Municipality, following reports of suspicious lesions on cattle at a beef feedlot at Couwenburg Farm. The case was investigated by state veterinarians and confirmed on 5 August 2022 and also reported to WOAH. 26 073 animals were affected and the source was traced to a feedlot in Gauteng.
The committee was told that a FMD campaign strategy was developed and rolled out focusing on the three-kilometre infected zone. A 10-kilometre zone was further placed under ongoing clinical and serological surveillance to monitor the spread.
The campaign included, among other things, the vaccination of all the affected 26 073 cloven hoofed animals on the farm, mainly cattle and few small stock that were kept as pets from 5 to 19 August 2022. In addition, movement restrictions and control were implemented, including quarantine of the farm and adjacent farms until the risk was eliminated and lifted after clearance on 12 December 2022. In addition Red Cross permits were issued for direct slaughter to a designated abattoir in Springs. Controlled slaughter of all vaccinated animals started on 29 Sep 2022, which involved inspection, clinical and serological surveillance. This was completed on 15 March 2023.
Dr Cele further explained that the department continues with routine vaccinations in designated high-risk areas bordering Eswatini, Mozambique, Limpopo province and Kruger National Park and its adjacent farms.
According the Dr Cele, the last outbreak in Ehlanzeni district was in March 2020, in a vaccination zone that was eradicated after an intense vaccination campaign. There has never been an outbreak in Gert Sibande District. However, the department continues to be vigilant by doing regular routine inspections and targeted surveillance in high-risk areas, i.e. auctions, as well as the international border area of Eswatini and provincial farms bordering it to KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Gauteng provinces.
“As at 31 December 2022, there were 137 538 FMD vaccinations carried out, including 26 073 from Nkangala outbreak. The estimated cattle population for Ehlanzeni (2021 estimates) is 93 685 cattle (73%). Vaccinations are carried out six-monthly and it is envisaged a coverage of over 80% will be reached by the end of the current financial year,” Dr Cele concluded.
The committee also undertook a site visit to Salubinza dip tank and the FMD redline fence at Numbi Gate in Kruger National Park to assess the control measures and surveillance put in place to curb the crossing of both buffalo and domestic cattle. The committee was informed that the fence is being upgraded.
Nolizwi Magwagwa
31 March 2023
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