KZN pig farmers demand inclusion in foot-and-mouth disease vaccination drive

Pig farmers in KwaZulu-Natal have expressed concern that pigs are not included in the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) mass vaccination rollout.

A concerned pig farmer, Michelle Miscou from Mooi River, said she was disturbed to learn that the mass vaccination was only for cattle and that other animals, such as pigs, were not included in the programme. 

“Why there is no assistance for pig farmers? The Office of the State Vet in KZN, states that no vaccine will be allocated for pigs, and as I am sure you know, these animals die when contracting the virus,” said Miscou.

She said that she is a small-scale farmer, this is her only source of income and she is worried that the focus is only on cattle.

“I have emailed the Minister of Agriculture as well as the department, but no response has been received to date,” said Miscou.

Another pig farmer Ruth Swindon from Rosetta, a small town near Mooi River, said she was also surprised that the government's vaccination programme is only for cattle. She said that the disease has already killed more than 1,000 pigs on one farm in Winterton, near Bergville.

"We are concerned about  our animals not being included in the vaccination campaign. This is our livelihoods. I think government's problem is that it does not have enough vaccines for cattle, let alone for other animals such as pigs," said Swindon.

Provincial Agriculture MEC Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa said the reason other livestock, such as pigs, were not included was that there was no report that suggested they were also infected by the disease; however, the government will look at the concerns of other livestock owners, such as Miscou.

It has been reported that there are 17,000 farms and 2.4 million cattle that have been affected by the disease. 

The provincial government has embarked on an FMD awareness drive ahead of a mass vaccination rollout. Last week, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, together with his MECs, embarked on an awareness drive to implement short-term measures to curb the spread of the disease, such as restricting the movement of livestock.

The rollout is expected towards the end of the month.

Madlopha-Mthethwa said that the province was the worst affected by the disease, which has paralysed the economy and threatened food security, particularly the export market.

Although Madlopha-Mthethwa emphasised that the FMD-infected cattle are safe for human consumption, the export market was severely affected as foreign countries are no longer importing beef from South Africa because of the disease.

Furthermore, Madlopha-Mthethwa announced that the country has begun to produce its own vaccines, and last week, a first batch of 12,000 was released and ready for rollout, adding that for now, its efficacy would be tested in the less affected Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces.

South Africa is currently importing vaccines from Botswana and Turkey. The mass rollout is in line with Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s plan to eradicate the disease in the country.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za