-
File Image: A veterinarian vaccinates a cow.
KwaZulu-Natal, which is the epicentre of the foot and mouth outbreak in the country, will start vaccinating cattle against the disease on Thursday.
The province has received 200 000 doses of the Biogenesis vaccine that national government bought from Argentina.
Agriculture MEC Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa says 20 teams of technicians will start vaccinating all cattle in the Ugu District.
They will then move on to the Harry Gwala District.
KaMadlopha-Mthethwa says the province had to revise its vaccination strategy because the Biogenesis vaccine is effective against the SAT 1 and 2 strains and not SAT 3, which is most prevalent in the province,
“We’ll be getting vaccine with SAT 3 with the next batch that is coming. It will no longer be this SAT. It will be the one that we need. And as that arrives then we’ll be able to move throughout the province with all the teams. But with the batch that we’re having we’ll be able to vaccinate everything in Ugu and Harry Gwala.”
The head of the provincial Agriculture Department Doctor Fikile Qwabe says when they receive other vaccines for SAT 3, they aim to start vaccinating cattle in districts that border on other provinces and countries.
“So that means when we now receive SAT 3, we go back to the original plan which has got 45 teams. But remember we have already gone through Ugu and Harry Gwala. So, those are two parallel plans in the event that we receive SAT 1 and SAT 2 which we are now rolling out 20 teams. Then the 45 teams come in once we receive the quality we expected.”
Foot & Mouth disease | Steenhuisen receives first batch of foot and mouth vaccines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3CdH6mREo0
