Foot and mouth disease affects only a fraction of SA cattle – Zokwana
MINISTER of Agriculture Senzeni Zokwana yesterday said less than 50 cattle out of the more than 10 000 in one of the districts in Limpopo have been affected by foot and mouth disease.
Zokwana said his department made the confirmation after state veterinarians conducted tests on the cattle in the area.
“We want to emphasise that the outbreak is limited to Sundani village in the Vhembe district. The affected cattle are less than 50 in an area with about 10 000 to 15 000.
“The area remains under quarantine and the vaccination process is beginning so that no further infections can occur. Foot and mouth disease is not transmittable to human beings and there should be no panic whatsoever,” Zokwana said.
He said the red meat in local stores is free from the disease and urged residents to continue to enjoy their meat and braai. Zokwana was with Dr Mpho Maja, the director of animal health, who said her unit would ensure that all the meat at various abattoirs in the country do not have foot and mouth disease.
Zokwana and Maja were addressing the media following a meeting they had with various agricultural organisations, farmers and research institutions in the country.
All parties expressed confidence that the state of the red meat market was safe and jointly urged South Africans not to panic.
Zokwana, however, conceded that the confirmation of the disease led to the World Organisation for Animal Health suspending South Africa’s foot and mouth-free status leading to a ban on exporting red meat by neighbouring countries.
“This temporary suspension has caused a few neighbouring trading countries to ban our exports. These bans have caused a serious loss to the industry,” Zokwana said.
He said they were still counting the loss to the economy.
Zokwana said their meeting with industry players and government was to discuss measures to be taken to convince neighbouring countries and other trading partners in the world that the local red meat market is safe.
He said they’ve agreed with industry players to form a technical team to fight the current outbreak of the disease, saying plans were already afoot.
Zokwana said that they had already agreed to set up a task team made up of experts in international trade to engage with foreign markets to which red meat is exported.
He said the task team would look beyond foot and mouth disease and look at the market gaps and opportunities.
“The impact this has had on trade in the past week has been devastating. I urge all affected industries to work with my team in minimising the impact.
“This can be achieved if we all take responsibility to avoid unnecessary panic and stress, and by approaching trade partners for the necessary confirmations of trade of cloven hoofed products to their territories.
“We have notified most of our trade partners and have started offering them assurances, especially for trade in products which do not pose a risk of transmitting the disease, such as heat treated meat and dairy products, deboned and matured beef, scoured wool, salted hides and skins, and livestock embryos,” Zokwana said.