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30 August 2022 – At the end of the first week of the country wide movement ban on cattle, the Department took stock of the situation in order to consider the best way forward. During the week 18 to 25 August 2022, 11 new outbreaks of FMD were confirmed by the laboratory, 5 in KZN, 5 in the Free State and 1 in Gauteng Provinces. This brings the total number of infected properties to 127.
These new cases were likely already on the farms at the time when the standstill was initiated, and some are neighbors of already infected properties with contiguous spread. Given the incubation period and the delay in showing clinical signs, the effect of the standstill will be better appreciated after 2 weeks.
The Department regrets the economic impact of the disease to farming enterprises. This decision was not taken lightly, the medium to long term impact on the livestock industry was at the center of the decision. In the past week, we received mixed messages, those of support and those of
criticizing the decision. By far the majority of messages were those of support and we thank industry.
During the past week, since the standstill was instituted, Minister Didiza led her team in meeting with the Premiers and executives of KZN and FS with the aim of heightening the importance and impact of FMD and soliciting support from all other role players. Veterinary Services continue
to engage, both internally and with stake holders.
Following public reports of suspicion, epidemiological investigations were conducted at 28 properties and samples collected. Of these, none came back positive. However, routine surveillance in and around infected areas and properties continued in the past week, with over 39 properties having been visited in the Free State and 5 testing positive.
Vaccination of affected properties continued during the past week, with 19,000 cattle vaccinated in Gauteng Province, 26 073 in Mpumalanga and 2,500 in KwaZulu-Natal.
Considering the above information, the ban on the movement of cattle will remain in place and this status will again be considered at the end of week 2 of the standstill.
We are also looking at uplifting the ban on those provinces that have no cases of foot and mouth in the coming week.
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