GEORGE NEWS - The recent agreement between the National Department of Agriculture and organised agriculture means that farmers can now legally procure and administer foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines through private channels.
For Garden Route farmers, the state vaccination programme continues alongside the new private option, according to George state veterinarian Dr Leana Janse van Rensburg.
She told George Herald that nothing has changed in the provincial vaccine roll-out. "At the moment, we are continuing with the vaccine allocation that has been assigned to us. Everything is carrying on as normal."
She said farmers wishing to vaccinate privately must notify the state veterinarian at least five days beforehand and submit their vaccination records within 14 days after they have been completed.
According to Agri Western Cape, 144 978 cattle have been vaccinated to date in the Garden Route. Rojeanne de Wet, its media liaison officer, said based on the registered cattle census, this represents about 78% of the district's registered herd. "The region has recorded 22 FMD cases, and the most recent reported case was 37 days ago."
Responding to a query from George Herald on how soon privately acquired vaccines will be available, Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) CEO Francois Rossouw said private supply chains still need to be established. "For the past eight months, only the state could import vaccines. Private suppliers, therefore, had no reason to invest in logistics or distribution networks."
Rossouw said such networks are expected to take three to four months to develop. Individual farmers cannot import vaccines themselves as importers require certain regulatory licences and cold-chain infrastructure.
Janse van Rensburg said one of the approved vaccine suppliers, Dunevax Biotech, has already developed a process flow chart for direct vaccinations and has agreed to handle certain aspects of the reporting to the state on behalf of farmers who privately vaccinate.
In a statement following the agreement with the department, FMD Response SA's spokesperson, Andrew Morphew, said vaccinations alone will not stop the disease.
"The World Organisation for Animal Health [Woah] states that at least 80% of cattle must be immune at the same time to stop the transmission of FMD. Vaccinating 80% of the country's cattle by December, as previously proposed, will not achieve this simultaneous immunity and will not halt the spread of the virus. Instead, most cattle need to be vaccinated within six to eight weeks, including the administration of booster doses for cattle vaccinated in February. Countries that have successfully eradicated FMD have done so by vaccinating almost all their cattle in the shortest possible time frame," said Morphew.
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