Foot-and-mouth disease spreads in Nelson Mandela Bay, raising fears for local dairy industry

Amid ongoing awareness campaigns and vaccination drives, Nelson Mandela Bay is not out of the woods yet as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has spread to a new location in the city and remains a major concern for veterinary authorities.

State veterinary services has reiterated the importance of addressing unchecked animal movement across the city as the disease has now spread to the Walmer Township area, and more cases have been confirmed in the regions where the initial outbreak was detected.

Similarly, Agri Eastern Cape has said it is crucial for FMD to be contained in Nelson Mandela Bay so that it does not spread further west, as a second outbreak in Kouga and Tsitsikamma, one of the country’s major milk production regions, could be devastating to the local dairy industry.

However, while other roleplayers are looking to municipal authorities to take a more active role in fighting the disease, even seeking legal opinions to warn them against possible litigation, there appears to be a lack of urgency from the municipality.

The issue of FMD in the metro was first raised by Ward 40 councillor Jason Grobbelaar, who shared confirmed results from the state vet’s office during a council meeting in July. There was a lot of back and forth during that meeting, with public health officials denying the presence of FMD, but it was later confirmed that the municipality was aware of the outbreak.

At that stage, tests confirmed five active cases in Bushy Park, KwaNobuhle, Lady Slipper, Motherwell and Rocklands, with a sixth case just outside the city limits in Thornhill.

Last week, the deputy director of state vet services in Nelson Mandela Bay, Dr Lungile Jali, confirmed that there were 14 active cases in the city, and that Walmer Township had been added to the list of affected areas.

Although it was unclear exactly how the disease spread to Nelson Mandela Bay and how long it had been present, Jali said the main focus now was on vaccination drives and limiting animal movement.

“This past week we were running vaccination programmes in the Rocklands area, and this week we will be focusing around the Langa area in Kariega. 

“Regular meetings with the relevant stakeholders are also crucial, and that is why we are having weekly meetings with city officials, officials from the Department of Agriculture, the SAPS Stock Theft Unit and Agri EC,” Jali said.

Agri EC operations manager Megan Maritz confirmed the organisation had been facilitating meetings between these groups, which were part of the Eastern Cape Provincial FMD Joint Operations Committee (JOC). Agric EC had also been updating member farmers in the local Van Stadens Agricultural Association, as well as their broader member network in the surrounding regions, on the latest developments.

“The presence of FMD in Nelson Mandela Bay is a concern, however, as we are aware, parts of the province and country have been facing this crisis for a while now. 

“The concern is the spread of the disease to the highly populated dairy area of Humansdorp to Tsitsikamma, which has just come out of an outbreak. Despite most of the dairies having been vaccinated, a second round will have a major impact on them.

“There are currently no prevention measures in place [in NMB]. Biosecurity should be the main objective as well as the legal movement of animals. Animal movement should be kept at a minimum.”

Maritz said the disease had not yet spread to large parts of the Eastern Cape, and further spread needed to be prevented at all costs.

The JOC meetings, as Jali mentioned, were important for all roleplayers to know their part in addressing the disease, key among them being the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

“It is important that the municipality take practical steps to assist in controlling the movement of stray animals, as declared in the Animal Diseases Act. The Animal Diseases Act applies to all land where animals are kept, including municipal land, and places legal duties on the ‘owner’ and the ‘manager’ of land. 

“If the commonage is used communally without a lease by animal owners, the municipality acts as both owner and manager and is responsible for ensuring disease control,” Jali said.

Further to this point, Maritz said Agri EC had sought a legal opinion on whether or not municipalities can be held liable for any losses farmers or livestock owners may suffer if it is found FMD was spread through stray animals or animals grazing on municipal land. 

With regards to Nelson Mandela Bay specifically, Maritz said there were “quite a few unknowns”, making it a complex legal opinion to draw up.

When asked about FMD in the city, municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said to avoid any inaccuracies or speculation, questions about the spread of the disease should be directed to the state vet.

He said the municipality’s mandate was simply to assist the Agriculture Department to conduct awareness and outreach interventions with informal farmers, and there had been engagements in Walmer Township, Motherwell and at Gqeberha City Hall.

“Further interventions have included inspections and engagements with formal farmers regarding adherence to the required biosecurity standards. An educational pamphlet was also developed and translated into local languages to support awareness and education initiatives implemented,” Soyaya said.

Asked about stray animals contributing to the threat of FMD, Soyaya said there had been no evidence to support the idea that stray animals caused FMD to spread in Nelson Mandela Bay.

“That said, the management of stray and roaming livestock remains an important municipal responsibility, particularly in relation to public safety, animal control and compliance with applicable municipal requirements.

“Within the municipality’s available resource capacity, additional interventions are being introduced incrementally to strengthen its response to those aspects of the matter that fall within the municipal mandate. These include the procurement of impoundment vehicles, as well as the maintenance and upgrading of the pound facility.” DM