Back to square one for SA’s FMD status with OIE

The South African government will need to submit a new detailed application to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to persuade the organisation to reinstate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free status for areas of the country where vaccination for this disease was previously not required.

This is after South African animal health authorities were unable to recover FMD-free status within the 24 months since the OIE suspended it on 2 January 2019, following an FMD outbreak in the Vhembe area of Limpopo.

Responding to Farmer’s Weekly, the OIE quoted the organisation’s standard operating procedures on suspension, recovery or withdrawal of officially recognised disease status: “When the status has not been recovered after two years of suspension, the official status is withdrawn and members must then reapply.”

The National Animal Health Forum’s vice-chairperson, Gerhard Schutte, said that after 2 January 2019 there had been further diagnoses of FMD in livestock outside South Africa’s designated FMD red zone. This had made it difficult for state animal health authorities to effectively tackle FMD’s spread to the OIE’s satisfaction.

“Unfortunately, now South Africa has to go the long route in terms of reapplying for FMD-free status for the green zone [outside of the designated FMD red zone]. Representatives of the livestock industry will be holding a workshop with national and provincial [agriculture departments] on how to go about regaining our FMD-free status,” Schutte said.

He added that it was critical to ensure that sufficient progress was made with implementing the country’s livestock traceability and biosecurity systems.

Surveillance for FMD would also have to be conducted across all nine provinces.

Schutte said that fortunately there were secure bilateral agreements with over 20 countries that continued to import livestock products from South Africa.

Leon de Beer, general manager of the National Wool Growers’ Association, said such bilateral agreements for South Africa’s wool exports included stipulations by importing countries that the wool first be appropriately treated and stored to ensure it did not pose an FMD risk to the livestock of those countries.

“The wool industry is implementing an extensive programme to promote sustainable production practices, which include sound biosecurity practices, and carrying out on-farm audits [to check] compliance with standards.

“Existing negotiated certification requirements also remain in place to support wool exports to China, even under the current and continuing status [of] South Africa still not [being] declared FMD-free,” he said. – Lloyd Phillips

SURVEILLANCE WILL HAVE TO BE CONDUCTED ACROSS ALL NINE PROVINCES