SA’s cattle industry commends Botswana for its swift action on suspected foot-and-mouth disease outbreak

South Africa’s red meat and livestock industry has congratulated Botswana on its swift response to a suspected foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the country.

Botswana’s director of veterinary services, Dr Kefentse Motshegwa, last week informed farmers and stakeholders that a movement standstill for all cloven hoof animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, antelope etc) had been imposed.

Motshegwa said movement permits would not be issued until further notice.

“All issued permits have been cancelled and should be considered invalid. Slaughter is temporarily suspended, abattoirs and slaughter slabs may slaughter animals that are already in the lairages but may not admit any more animals until further notice,” said Motshegwa.

Motshegwa said the export of cloven hoof animals, beef, fresh meat and raw animal products had been suspended. “This movement restriction facilitates disease investigation and will be lifted once investigations are concluded,” he said.

Louw van Reenen, the spokesperson for the Red Meat and Livestock Primary Cluster and CEO of Beefmaster Group, said: “We congratulate the government of Botswana for its swift action. This decisive intervention was needed, but lacking, four years ago when FMD was first identified in South Africa, which is why the problem is so pervasive. There is much to learn from this commendable and bold move by our neighbour.”  

More than a week ago, the South African government announced the temporary suspension of the movement of cattle in the country to curb the rampant spread of FMD. 

“Industry players say that the action was necessary, albeit a case of too little too late. The industry has been wanting the country to prioritise FMD with urgency since its outbreak. We have got to a stage where the 21-day restriction on the movement of cattle is necessary,” said Van Reenen.

He said that the battle to get ahead of FMD required industry and government participation, yet the lack of industry consultations in the lead-up to the announcement had left the industry with much uncertainty.  

“We have always asked that government acknowledges the industry as a critical roleplayer in the combatting of this disease to effectively manage FMD. Having said that, we are encouraged by positive unintended consequences since the restrictions have been in place.

“Traceability and biosecurity are back in the spotlight and stakeholders are starting to see value in it to prevent and manage the risk of large-scale disease outbreaks.”