Xavier Radio Ug News 24 7
The North West Department of Agriculture says it is yet to determine where their latest batch of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine doses will be administered.
The latest batch comes a week after the province received 1 400 vaccine doses, which were administered to a dairy herd in the Bojanala District.
Red meat producers have warned that consumers must prepare for significant meat and dairy shortages.
Director for Veterinary Services at the Department Dr Langa Madyibi says over 100 foot-and-mouth disease cases have been confirmed in the province and the latest batch of vaccines will be rolled out on a risk-based principle.
“As of Monday we have 143 cases. We have received a consignment of vaccines like all other provinces. The number that we had requested had to be rationalised. We ended up receiving 100 000 doses, but we are going to be distributing those based on a criteria that was agreed upon, which is going to focus largely on situations that are going to prevent further spread, especially into buffalo farms and hotspots where there are active infections happening.”
While red meat producers have been hardest hit, Dr Peter Evans from the Red Meat Industry Services says consumers must also prepare for the worst.
“We’ve seen that our exports last year have declined because of the disease. And when we talk to some of our feedlot operators, they tell us that they’ve not been able to source the same number of animals that are required for their feedlots. So, there’ll be less beef on the market going forward. For the consumer that has a price impact. But it is going to be problematic for a while. And on the dairy side they are also affected. A lot of farmers have lost 10 to 20 to 30% of their milking cows.”
Foot and Mouth Disease | One million FMD vaccines arrives in SA:
www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/1108146-2/
