Animal health experts warn of disease threat

South Africa’s livestock producers have been warned to take proactive measures to protect their animals from pests and diseases proliferating due to widespread rain so far this year.

In the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa’s February diseases report, the association’s managing director, Dr Faffa Malan, said reports of insect- and ticktransmitted diseases had increased following the good rain in most of the country’s summer rainfall areas.

He advised livestock owners in these areas to move their animals away from low-lying areas where rainwater accumulated and encouraged the presence of disease-transmitting pests. The use of insecticidal sprays was also recommended where necessary.

The report said important diseases transmitted by pests that flourished in the current wet conditions included Rift Valley fever, Wesselsbron disease, bluetongue, lumpy skin disease, three-day-stiff sickness and African horse sickness. All of these should be vaccinated against.

“Implementing an effective on-farm biosecurity plan can be costly, but not nearly as costly as losing some or all of the livestock on a farm to disease,” said Mongezi Menye, the South African Veterinary Council’s CEO and registrar.

The benefit of containing disease outbreaks and reducing the need for additional vaccines that came at higher prices, was something farmers could not afford to ignore, he said.

Gerhard Schutte, the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation’s CEO, said outbreaks of some diseases, such as Rift Valley fever, spread by insects and other vectors, posed a major risk to South Africa’s exports of animal products.

“There are vaccines and treatments for all of these diseases. To the best of our knowledge, there are no shortages of these right now,” Schutte said.

“Livestock producers must remember that there’s a three-month period between giving a vaccination and when the vaccine provides the animal with maximum cover.”

Schutte added that the first frost of winter was “not far off” and this would help reduce the prevalence of disease-transmitting insects and ticks.

However, he cautioned that previous experience had shown that even with the benefits of frost, the first spring following a summer of widespread good rain often saw a dramatic resurgence in insectand tick-transmitted livestock diseases.

‘TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, THERE’S CURRENTLY NO SHORTAGE OF VACCINES AND TREATMENTS FOR THESE DISEASES’