Foot and Mouth Disease Breaks Out in South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA - The South African veterinary authorities have reported twelve outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in cattle in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
28 February 2011
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The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) received an immediate notification on 25 February.
According to the report, a total of 473 animals were found susceptible to the disease, out of which 224 cases were identified.
The source of the outbreak remains inconclusive.
The affected area is partially situated in the FMD Free Zone of South Africa and all exports of cloven hoofed animals and animal products will be suspended with immediate effect, except for products that have been fully processed to inactivate FMD virus. No clinical signs of disease were observed, therefore sero-positive results were counted as cases of infection. The number of animals sampled was used as the number of susceptible animals.
Vaccination by State Veterinary Services will be allowed only in the affected areas of KwaZulu Natal, the report states.
The epidemiological units (village = diptank) in the Northern part of KwaZulu Natal are dip tanks used for FMD inspection.
Liquid-phase blocking ELISA and non-structural protein (NSP) ELISA tests are done on all samples. All the NSP ELISA tests were negative.
