Foot and Mouth disease: Garden Route stats update

Update

AGRICULTURE NEWS - In the latest update received from the Garden Route Municipality, the latest Foot and Mouth Disease for the Garden Route area is as follows:

FMD stats: Garden Route

Affected municipal area: Mossel Bay
FMD-affected farms (officially confirmed): 5 (up with 1)
FMD-suspect site(s), pending test results: 3 (down with 3)
Number of farms vaccinated: 62 (increased with 10)
FMD-Vaccines administered to date: 12 659 (increased with 3 028)
Livestock infected: Cattle
Number of Vehicle Control Points around quarantined area: 7 static and 4 roaming

According to Gerhard Otto, the GRDM Head of Disaster Management, “An additional 1.5 million doses of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines from Turkey arrived over the weekend. The allocation of these doses to various regions will be finalised shortly. A further 6 million doses are scheduled to arrive later in March. Vaccine deployment is guided by heatmap data; ensuring targeted administration in high-risk areas. The heatmap forms part of the Western Cape Provincial Government’s Department of Agriculture’s efforts to map FMD.”

Latest test results: Garden Route

The Western Cape Provincial Government (WCG) Local State Veterinarian, Dr Leana Janse van Rensburg, received confirmation that a beef herd within a 10km radius of the index farm tested positive for FMD. This affected herd has already been vaccinated.

Closure of roads: Applications and roads closed for traffic

Applications for the closure of Western Cape Provincial Roads must be directed to Gerhard Otto, [email protected]. Residents will be able to access these roads, but not other motorists or cyclists.

Role players involved in approving these applications, include the GRDM Disaster Management Centre, Western Cape Provincial Government Roads Engineer, the South African Police Service and the affected local municipality law enforcement.

Western Cape vaccination priorities

It is important to note that when an animal is vaccinated and exposed to FMD, it gets less sick, shows milder clinical signs (fewer sores, less lameness), and they recover faster.

Phase 1: Infected herd and others within a 3km radius of an index farm (if lesions are found outside 3km, expand to 10km).
Phase 2: Commonage and informal area livestock.
Phase 3: High-risk herds (farms close to free-roaming cattle, close to abattoirs and where there is a lot of movement, etc.).
Phase 4: Dairy herds.
Phase 5: Beef herds.