China has suspended the import of South African cloven-hoofed animals following two new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The new cases – one in Mpumalanga and one in Gauteng – both originated in KwaZulu-Natal, where difficulties to combat the outbreaks led to government expanding the disease management area in March.
The Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform says in a statement that “as a result of the spread of the KZN outbreaks to Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces, the People’s Republic of China has suspended imports of cloven-hoofed animals and related products”.
Preliminary information obtained has confirmed that this suspension includes only beef from the whole of South Africa to China.
This is significant as the local wool industry previously suffered significant losses when China included wool in FMD-related bans, despite the South African sheep industry not being affected by the disease.
According to the department, the Mpumalanga case originated at an auction in Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal.
“Although these animals showed no clinical signs of disease, further investigation has confirmed that the virus has spread to adjacent camps on the same farm. There are no indications that other farms have become infected, but veterinary services are continuing with clinical inspection and testing of livestock on farms in the area.”
In the case of Gauteng, clinical FMD signs “were noted in a feedlot that received animals from an auction in Heidelberg”, and lab results from samples taken from the animals “confirmed that this is the same virus that is circulating in parts of KwaZulu-Natal”.
An epidemiological investigation is under way to trace back and trace forward all other animals that were bought and sold at the same auction.
Subsequent to this latest outbreak, agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has escalated control efforts to the office of the deputy director-general Dipepeneneneng Serage. In meetings with industry, “the biosecurity, traceability and record keeping of animals bought and sold at auctions and similar industries were raised as a specific concern”.
The department once more appealed to livestock owners to limit animal movement as much as possible, and requested auctioneers and livestock owners to be vigilant when buying cloven-hoofed animals from provinces where there are active FMD outbreaks.
“No cloven hoofed animals should be accepted from areas under restriction for FMD in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.”
Biosecurity regulations require livestock buyers to keep newly bought animals separate from resident herds for at least 28 days, as animals can appear healthy from two to 14 days after infection before starting to show symptoms.
