In Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, foot-and-mouth disease has spread to a new area — Walmer Township. The state veterinary service confirmed 14 active cases of the disease within the city and called for restrictions on uncontrolled animal movements, Daily Maverick reports.
Vaccination and movement control
Lungile Jali, deputy director of the state veterinary service in Nelson Mandela Bay, said that livestock vaccination and restrictions on its movement are the main response measures. According to him, vaccination programmes were conducted in the Rocklands area last week, while this week they were planned to focus on the area near Langa in Kariega.
Weekly coordination meetings are attended by city officials, representatives of the agriculture department, the South African Police Service livestock theft unit, and Agri Eastern Cape. These groups are part of the Eastern Cape Province Joint Operational Committee on foot-and-mouth disease.
At the initial stage of the outbreak, positive cases were detected in Bushy Park, KwaNobuhle, Lady Slipper, Motherwell and Rocklands. A sixth case was recorded outside the city, in Thornhill. The exact way the disease spread to Nelson Mandela Bay and how long it has been present there remain unclear.
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Risks for dairy farms
Agri Eastern Cape said the spread of foot-and-mouth disease must be contained in Nelson Mandela Bay to prevent it from moving further west, towards the dairy region from Humansdorp to Tsitsikamma. The organisation noted that this area recently experienced an outbreak of the disease, and a renewed outbreak could significantly affect local dairy farms, despite most of them being vaccinated.
Jali stressed that the municipality must take practical measures to control the movement of stray livestock in accordance with the Animal Diseases Act. According to him, the law applies, among other things, to municipal land and imposes disease-control obligations on the owner and manager of the land.
Agri Eastern Cape sought a legal opinion on the possible liability of municipalities for losses suffered by farmers or livestock owners if it is established that foot-and-mouth disease spread through stray animals or grazing on municipal land. At the same time, municipal representative Sithembiso Soyaya said there was no evidence that foot-and-mouth disease had spread through such animals in Nelson Mandela Bay.
According to Soyaya, the municipality is conducting awareness activities for informal farmers, inspections and consultations with commercial farms on biosecurity requirements. Authorities are also gradually strengthening measures within their powers, including plans to procure vehicles for catching livestock and to service and upgrade a facility for keeping them.
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