As authorities intensify efforts to contain the South Africa’s worst foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in years, its government announced on Wednesday that it received 2 million doses of FMD vaccine from Turkey.
The vaccine, supplied by Turkey’s Dollvet, will be distributed to provinces in the coming days based on animal population and risk, Reuters reports. An additional 4 million doses have also been ordered from Dollvet.
The government hopes to vaccinate 80% of South Africa’s national cattle herd, estimated at about 14 million. It also plans to allocate some vaccine doses to the pork industry.
Foot-and-Mouth Disease on the Rise
Reuters reports South Africa’s government has faced criticism from livestock farmers, who say they are suffering heavy losses over its handling of the outbreak, with some threatening legal action. In February, South Africa rolled out its first FMD vaccine in 20 years to ease a shortage of inoculation doses.
An additional 5 million vaccine doses have been ordered from Argentina, the article says, with delivery expected in two batches once import approval is granted by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority.
Recent reports of the emergence and spread of the FMD SAT1 serotype are highlighting a concerning shift in the global landscape of this virus.
“For FMD virus, immunity is serotype-specific, meaning infection or vaccination against a given serotype does not confer protection against a different serotype,” says Dr. Sol Perez at the University of Minnesota in a recent Farm Journal’s PORK article.
The Challenge of Controlling FMD
FMD is severe, fast-spreading viral disease that primarily affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows, pigs, sheep, goats and deer. According to USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, FMD is one of the most challenging animal diseases to control. Although most infected animals survive, they’re left weak and unable to produce the level of meat and milk prior to infection. FMD is not a human health or food safety threat.
FMD was first discovered in the U.S. in 1870 and eradicated in 1929. The U.S. does not have FMD at this time.
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