Foot and mouth disease has successful been contained in parts of the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen made the announcement on Friday, lifting Disaster Management Area (DMA) restrictions that had been in place in some areas for almost three years.
Two municipalities in the Eastern Cape and one in Limpopo had their quarantines lifted, while restrictions in many other areas remained in place.
Foot and mouth disease
Foot and mouth contained
DMA restrictions had been in place in the Kouga and Kou-Kamma municipalities since July 2024.
Over 144 000 vaccinations were administered and the last cases were reported in September 2024.
“Extensive serological surveillance was done in the DMA to confirm that there are no undetected pockets of the disease,” stated Steenhuisen.
The Vhembe municipality in Limpopo also had its restrictions lifted after having first been quarantined in September 2022.
“Cattle at 34 diptanks were vaccinated in two rounds of vaccination, with a total of 23, 024 vaccinations done,” explained Steenhuisen.
Farms still quarantined
At least 76 farms in the Eastern Cape which reported foot and mouth outbreaks remain under quarantine.
“Movement restrictions will remain in place on these farms until testing has confirmed the absence of viral circulation,” the minister stated.
“Testing will commence 12 months after the farms have been vaccinated,”
However, milk from quarantined farms is allowed to be taken off the farms for sale after a single pasteurisation.
Earlier restrictions mandated that double pasteurisation was required when the disease was still active.
KZN still struggling
KwaZulu-Natal is still under DMA restrictions as the department states foot and mouth disease is still active in the province.
“An abattoir in the Vryheid area in the DMA was designated to slaughter animals from premises under FMD restrictions.
“A system has been put in place to assess the level of biosecurity on individual farms, with the intention of aligning the control measures to the biosecurity risks,” said the department.
Grain SA stated that basic biosecurity sanitation measures include washing hands regularly when dealing with animals, sanitising boots before and after entering enclosures and keeping feed rodent-free.
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