AGRICULTURE NEWS - The dramatic increase in the recorded cases of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) in cattle in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) since 2019 is a reflection of many livestock owners’ lack of compliance with legislation, combined with government’s failure to enforce this legislation.
This was the view stated in the Bovine Brucellosis Control Policy for South Africa that was approved in July by government’s chief director for Animal Health and Production, Dr Botlhe Modisane.
Dr Alicia Cloete, a state veterinarian at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, wrote in an update on the policy that as per the Animal Diseases Act 35 of 1984, brucellosis was a controlled animal disease in South Africa.
Cattle owners were therefore legally obligated to vaccinate all heifer calves between the ages of four and eight months with a registered vaccine against brucellosis.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly
