Failure to Contain Foot-and-Mouth Disease Threatens Livestock Industry

Despite the best efforts of state veterinarians on the ground, leader farmers and commodity organizations urging their members to cooperate with the state and comply to regulations, the unprecedented spike in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) cases over the festive season demands an urgent intervention.

Free State Agriculture (FSA) urges Minister Steenhuisen to use his authority to declare a disaster and to repeal the sections of the Animal Diseases Act that grant incapacitated state agencies exclusive rights to import, store and distribute vaccines, as well as to conduct the required laboratory tests.

FSA says that urgent action is needed for the Ministerial Task Team to:

1. Identify Pirbright vaccine pairing to insure we have the right vaccines for the right strains
2. ⁠Authorize correct vaccine imports from reputable companies
3. ⁠Authorize vaccine availability to State and Private Veterinarians with necessary traceability protocols
4. ⁠Authorize open and transparent free market vaccine pricing.

With these demands FSA urges the Minister and his team to action these critically urgent steps without delay!

“There is currently no vaccine available for the state vets to administer in the Free State. Furthermore, of great concern, there are confirmed reports of where the BVI vaccine procured through the state from Botswana was administered, and the entire dairy herds still got full FMD six weeks later with dire consequence.” Says Dr Jack Armour, commercial manager of FSA.  

“Our hearts go out especially to the Dairy farmers who are hit particularly hard with massive losses in production, and where bad mastitis sets in, euthanasia to relieve the pain and distress of the cows. Increased calf deaths are also being reported and the reasons are being investigated.”

Armour mentions that the organisation is aware of a rise in social media activity and the spread of some AI-generated images & video material used to play on emotions. “We have no problem with the gory facts being spread and the heartfelt plight of real farmers, but urge the public to discern between real and AI and if in doubt not to spread fake sensationalist clips created to increase likes.”

FSA calls on farmers and members of the livestock value chain to unite in solidarity and apply pressure on government to act on the Expert Task Team’s advice by opening the FMD vaccine market in a responsible and timely manner, and not be distracted by splinter groups, conspiracy theories or illegal backdoor imports.

Friedl von Maltitz, vice president of FSA says: “We are fully aware that FMD can be used as a biological weapon to destabilize an economy and hence the need for the state to have the necessary controls in place, but not to monopolize the market when the state clearly does not have the capacity nor resources in place for the crisis, and the private sector is anxiously waiting and ready to be allowed to participate.”   

“If vaccines are made available through private imports, it does not remove the responsibility of the state to control the disease. The ineffective handling of the situation by the state has made it critical, for farmers to survive, to do it themselves through their private vets (at great cost) because the state has failed completely and utterly, bordering on negligence and maladministration!”.