Farmers must take responsibility for brucellosis

Incidents of bovine brucellosis are increasing in many parts of South Africa, with outbreaks reported in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape since August last year, according to a disease report by the Ruminant Veterinary Association.

Veterinary consultant Dr Sewellyn Davey said many factors contributed to the situation. They included sporadic shortages of vaccines; the lengthy period it took for certain laboratories to test and communicate results; and problems on the control side, some of which would hopefully be eased with the implementation of the Biosecurity Rules for Livestock Agents.

As far as Davey was concerned, however, the ignorance of some farmers was the greatest threat.

“Farmers may not be aware that they’re legally obliged to vaccinate all their heifers between the ages of four and eight months against bovine brucellosis, or they may try to save costs by not vaccinating all of their animals.”

Farmers also took risks when they brought cattle that had not been tested for infection onto their farms, or did not know that heifers and cows can present with false negatives when in-calf.

“You really need to know the history of the herd from which you’re buying,” Davey said.

She added that some farmers underestimated the impact of the disease, not realising it could drastically reduce profits by causing increased abortions and poor animal performance, or that it would cost much more to manage the disease once an outbreak occurred than preventing it through vaccination and biosecurity practices.

The entire herd was placed under quarantine and was subject to movement restrictions once an outbreak was detected. These restrictions were lifted only once no animals were positive for three consecutive tests, which could take up to 24 months or even longer, she said.

A source who spoke to Farmer’s Weekly on condition of anonymity confirmed an increased incidence of bovine brucellosis in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, where the disease had previously been under control. He said farmers were quick to blame others when they experienced an outbreak.

“Many commercial farmers blame communal or smallholder farmers, but we’ve found that the disease can affect cattle on any farm.” The onus was on farmers to protect their herds.

“You can’t boast of having a multimillion-rand operation if you don’t have risk analysis and prevention measures in place. Your first line of defence is biosecurity measures, such as having good fences and not buying infected animals. If a security breach occurs, [say] an infected cow jumps a fence, the fact that you vaccinated your animals will help stop the disease in its tracks.” – Glenneis Kriel