Latest news with #footandmouthdisease
The Herald
05-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald
Foot and mouth disease management areas lifted in Eastern Cape, Limpopo
Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has lifted the disease management areas (DMA) in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo after intensified efforts by veterinary services were successful in containing the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The DMA means no cloven-hoofed animals, their products or genetic material may be moved from, to or within the designated DMA unless authorised by a state veterinary permit and in full compliance with the stipulated conditions of such a permit. The lifting of the restrictions became effective on Friday after being published in the government gazette. The department said a DMA had been in place in the Kouga and Kou-Kamma municipalities in the Eastern Cape since July 26 2024 to support the control of FMD outbreaks. Vaccination was implemented as a control measure and 144,424 vaccinations were administered. The last cases were reported in September 2024. Extensive serological surveillance was done in the DMA to confirm there were no undetected pockets of the disease.
Reuters
02-07-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Turkey shuts livestock markets to control foot and mouth disease
ISTANBUL, July 2 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Wednesday it will shut down all livestock marketplaces to control the spread of highly contagious foot and mouth disease. The agriculture ministry said it detected a new serotype of the disease that heightened the outbreak, due to animal movement after the Muslim religious holiday of Eid al Adha, which is typically marked by slaughtering livestock. The decision was taken to prevent further spread as teams continue to vaccinate animals against the disease, the ministry said. It will gradually lift the restrictions once the entire livestock population is vaccinated. The ministry also said the temporary closure will not disrupt supply and demand for meat and dairy products in Turkey.
The Herald
18-06-2025
- Health
- The Herald
Foot and mouth disease outbreak in North West
An outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has been reported in the JB Marks municipality in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district in the North West, the provincial department of agriculture and rural development said on Tuesday. In the first incident, the department was alerted by a private veterinarian who had visited a farm and saw suspicious signs. The state veterinarian collected samples, which were sent to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute to test for the disease. Another incident was detected at an abattoir in Madibeng. The clinical signs of the affected animals were missed at ante-mortem inspection but were detected on the slaughter line during the meat inspection process, the department said. Tissue samples were sent to the laboratory and the results confirmed both SAT 2 and SAT 3 types of the virus. The unslaughtered animals were escorted back to the farm of origin, a feedlot in Ventersdorp, through a Red Cross permit. 'Both farms linked to the outbreak have been put under quarantine, prohibiting the movement of animals and animal products,' the department said. The department has also identified all the farms that are linked to the Gauteng outbreak and those farms were being sampled for testing. All these farms have been put under precautionary quarantine until the test results are back. TimesLIVE
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Foot-and-mouth disease contained in Hungary, farm minister says
BUDAPEST, June 6 (Reuters) - Hungary has successfully contained an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, leading to the lifting of European Union restrictions, the country's farm minister Istvan Nagy told local news site in an interview published on Friday. Hungary reported its first case of foot-and-mouth disease for over 50 years in March, leading to infections in five farms near its border with Slovakia and Austria and triggering border closures and the mass slaughter of cattle. "There hasn't been a single new outbreak on the farms for over a month and a half. Disinfection work is ongoing, cleaning is happening at full speed, we're preparing for repopulation at all the sites ... the virus is gone," Nagy said. The farm minister also said that the European Union was lifting restrictions introduced after the outbreak. The disease, which poses no danger to humans, mostly affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals like swine, sheep and goats, causing fever and mouth blisters. Outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions and livestock culls. Authorities were still investigating the origins of the outbreak and testing several theories, Nagy said. He reiterated that terrorism had not been ruled out. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff in May suggested a "biological attack" as a possible source of the outbreak, without giving further details. Restrictions have also been eased in Slovakia since May as the country has not seen any fresh outbreaks in recent months. In the Czech Republic, where no cases were reported, remaining measures to prevent the spread across its borders were due to end on Friday.
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
South Africa to ramp up vaccinations as foot-and-mouth disease spreads
June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa is building up vaccine stocks and expanding inoculations to fight a worsening foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the agriculture ministry said, as the country faces threats to beef supplies. Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious, viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals that may also affect other species. Flare-ups have been reported over the past several months in five of South Africa's nine provinces, with KwaZulu- Natal being the worst affected. This week, Karan Beef, opens new tab, which operates the country's largest feedlot and one of the world's biggest, reported an outbreak at its facility in Heidelberg, about 50 kilometres southeast of Johannesburg. The quarantine imposed on the feedlot, which slaughters about 2,000 cattle daily, could impact beef supplies. The government has ordered over 900,000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccines with the first batch expected to arrive next week, the agriculture ministry said in a statement late on Thursday. "These plans are not only about responding to outbreaks, but also about building permanent infrastructure to manage future risks," it said. There are growing calls by some cattle producers to declare a "state of disaster" and protect the industry from financial losses. Invoking disaster law gives the government additional powers to intervene in a crisis. The foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have resulted in South African beef and related products being banned in markets such as China, Namibia and Zimbabwe. South Africa's livestock sector is also recovering from its worst avian flu outbreak, which destroyed a third of the national chicken flock in 2023. On Thursday, the government announced the first ever mass vaccination of poultry to prevent a repeat outbreak of high-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a bird flu that spreads rapidly in an infected flock, causing a high death rate.
