Animal auctions to blame for foot and mouth disease, says agriculture dept

Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) are prevalent in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, while the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape remain FMD-free.

Giving an update on the status of the outbreak and measures to curb the spread of the disease on Tuesday, the agriculture department said auctions largely contributed to the spread of the disease.

Dr Botlhe Modisane, chief director of animal health and production, said auctions have been playing a major role in spreading the disease, particularly the Utrecht auction in KwaZulu-Natal.

The department was still seeing animals going to auction spreading the disease because biosecurity rules were not complied with. 

“Before 2019 South Africa had free status for FMD. In 2019 we had an outbreak in Limpopo that resulted in the loss of the free status,” Modisane said. 

Outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal have been simmering since 2021 but remained contained until the disease started moving from the west to more commercial areas this year.

After the Utrecht auction in February there was confirmation of the disease and the department started tracing animals sold at that auction to other areas such as Mpumalanga. 

“In Mpumalanga we found infection has taken place on a farm in the southern part of Mpumalanga. Just as we were confirming this outbreak last week, we also got a request for samples to be tested.

“Animals were brought in, reportedly from a Heidelberg auction. No clinical signs, but virus circulation [was] confirmed on the farm. So far one farm has been infected and there is no indication of the spread to other farms in the area.”

In Mogale City in Gauteng, clinical signs were reported in animals brought from an auction in Heidelberg and confirmed positive. 

Modisane said tracing of animals had been done in Gauteng over the weekend. The department concluded the Heidelberg auction had not caused the outbreak as none of the animals coming from that auction tested positive.

Investigations to determine the origin and linked locations revealed on Tuesday the virus was like one in Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal, meaning it seemed to be related to the Utrecht auction.  

Modisane said there were emerging challenges with FMD. These included the changing behaviour of the virus, ranging from classical symptoms to complete absence of symptoms. This complicated clinical diagnoses and early warning of the presence of the disease at farm level.  

“With [tracing] in Mpumalanga we haven't so far seen the clinical signs of the disease. We are confirming the outbreaks from the blood but haven't seen any symptoms.”

Other challenges include:

• agricultural produce agents;
• council rules sometimes not being adhered to;
• poor records and traceability;
• a 28-day movement requirement not complied with, especially in rural communities as they depend on auctions to make a living out of livestock; and
• a shortage of veterinarians. 

To curb the spread of FMD, the department plans to prioritise funds for vaccines and related consumables. The department has started the process of doubling vaccines production so South Africa can rely on its own vaccines rather than purchasing them from Botswana.

 TimesLIVE