21 Sep 2022

Kgalagadi District acting principal veterinary officer, Dr Tishaona Aaron says they have intensified surveillance operations to detect any outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

The disease was recently detected in Zone 6 in the North East District and it affects all cloven hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.

Speaking in an interview this week, Dr Aaron said they had conducted surveillance operations on farms located along the border between Botswana and South Africa and that they had not detected any cases.

Dr Aaron commended government for acting swiftly to impose animal movement restrictions. 

He noted that farmers could take their animals for slaughter, slaughter slabs and abattoirs, but that the export of cattle and other cloven hoofed animals remained suspended.

FMD outbreak was confirmed at Butale and surrounding villages early this month and restrictions were placed on the movement of cloven hooved animals and their fresh products within and out of Zones 6a, 6b,3c and 7.

The veterinary doctor said they had collected samples from animals awaiting slaughter. He noted that they slaughtered over 600 cattle for local consumption in a month and exported about 1 000.

Dr Aaron urged farmers to be vigilant and to report any suspicious cases to veterinary officers. 

He said livestock around Tsabong was in a high risk area as some farms were located adjacent to the border. He urged farmers to keep their animals at least about 10 kilometres away from the border fence.

A feedlot owner at Phuhuhudu, Mr Willem Marnewick said the outbreak had affected businesses and the local economy.

 He said they had suspended buying cattle from farmers due to the restrictions. 

Mr Marnewick said he hoped everything would return to normal before the festive season because it was their peak season in terms of sales and profits.

He also said their businesses were experiencing cash flow challenges as running costs were increasing and profits declining.

“We have employed a lot of people and profits are becoming less and less,” he said.

He noted that they sold over 2 000 cattle per month before the restrictions and that they now sold about 300 per month.

A cattle baron in Kisa, Mr James Matswiri also commended government for containing FMD outbreak in Zone 6. 

He suggested that government should lift restrictions in unaffected areas, to allow business to take place because they had to pay employees, buy feed and service loans.

FMD is a highly infectious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed livestock and wild animals. 

The disease is characterised by high morbidity, low mortality and eruption of vesicles and erosions in the mucosa of the mouth and skin. Ends