John Steenhuisen cracking down on serious threat

South Africa needs to intensify efforts to curb an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has resulted in the restriction of movement of livestock to help stem the spread, its agriculture minister said. 

The KwaZulu-Natal province has 147 active cases of the highly contagious illness that affects cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, with new infections emerging outside of the designated disease-management areas, John Steenhuisen said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

“This lack of sufficient action is jeopardising farmers’ livelihoods, the agricultural industry, and the economy,” he said, urging officials in his department to do more. “This needs to stop. Immediately.”

South Africa declared designated disease areas in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021, and Steenhuisen was forced to extend the boundaries of these regions last month owing to the spread of the virus.

He instructed officials to ensure that the police and the road traffic-management authorities oversee animal movement, and that they obtain enough vaccines to cater for a full rollout of inoculations.