One of the developing stories the global media keeps reporting is the bird flu in various parts of the U.S. Ordinarily, bird flu is an issue for the poultry industry, but recently, we saw the disease crossing to dairy cattle and soon after that to people.
The U.S. continues to struggle with this disease. The government has declared a state of emergency in California following the widespread spread of bird flu. For example, the Associated Press reports, “California has been looking for bird flu in large milk tanks during processing. And they have found the virus in at least 650 herds, representing about three-quarters of all affected U.S. dairy herds.” Still, this remains low risk to the general public, but it’s a significant challenge for the dairy industry in the U.S.
Now, why am I writing about this story? I am highlighting it not because South Africa and the Southern Africa region face an apparent risk. I am highlighting it to illustrate that the animal disease issue is a global challenge and that South Africa must continue to strengthen its biosecurity system – the measures in place to reduce the risk of infectious diseases being transmitted to crops, livestock and poultry.
South Africa has faced its fair share of animal diseases, such as avian influenza in poultry, foot and mouth disease in cattle, and African swine fever in pigs. Fortunately, none of these, at least to my knowledge, have crossed humans and caused the complications we see in the U.S. with the bird flu.
Still, South African farmers have faced a heavy financial burden in the past few years. The other downside of animal diseases is that when the country or region faces an outbreak, some markets temporarily block the exports of the product from such a region. As an export-led agricultural sector, this was a great challenge for the South African red meat and wool farmers when the foot and mouth disease peaked in 2022.
For example, South Africa’s beef exports volume for 2022 was down by 16% year-on-year to 26 881 tonnes, according to data from Trade Map. This decline was primarily due to the temporary closures of various markets. Furthermore, the sheep industry was also affected by the 2022 outbreak. China, a significant market for South African wool, suspended imports. The impact of those temporary closures is visible on export volumes of wool. In 2022, South Africa’s wool exports fell 19% year-on-year to 42 239 tonnes. The significant decline in volume was in the Chinese market.
The challenges in South Africa have been the weaknesses in surveillance, animal control movement, and inefficiencies in the laboratories for vaccine production, amongst other issues. This left the country paralysed when we faced these issues.
However, the collective effort of the government and the private sector led to many improvements in the spread of the diseases. The diseases also forced us to face the reality that some national laboratories, such as the Onderstepoort Biological Products, were ineffective and required a closure rejuvenation and for the government to deal with corruption there.
We now see the fruits of the work that started under MsThoko Didiza, then Minister in the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and continued under Minister John Steenhuisen in the Department of Agriculture.
On October 25, 2024, the Department of Agriculture released even more positive news, which I believe will further support the recovery path of the industry. The Department announced that the “foot and mouth disease outbreak, which occurred from 2021 to 2022, has been successfully resolved in the North West, Free State, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga Provinces. These provinces, initially impacted by the outbreak, have now completed comprehensive testing of animals on quarantined farms. The results indicate that the foot and mouth disease virus is no longer present.”
The Department added that “the World Organization for Animal Health has confirmed that the outbreak in these regions has officially been closed. However, it is important to note that the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces remain affected by foot and mouth disease outbreaks. Encouragingly, no new signs of the disease have been reported in these two provinces over the past month.”
This is admirable progress and further supports South Africa’s ambition of being a global player in red meat exports. The successful path to the export markets involves addressing the biosecurity challenges. Continuous efforts must be made to address the remaining challenges in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.
In addition, the South African government must work collaboratively with the private sector to revive the efficiency of the Agricultural Research Council and the Onderstepoort Biological Products, which are key for vaccine production and various livestock disease management matters.
We have a window of opportunity to address these animal disease issues and revive the national laboratories’ and vaccine manufacturers’ capabilities. We must use this time before confronting a much more serious challenge in the future.
South Africa’s Department of Agriculture must also stay in constant contact with the U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers in the Pretoria office and the U.S. to get constant updates on the developments of this disease and steps the U.S. is taking to control its spread. These could be valuable lessons for South Africa in case of a future challenge. After all, animal diseases are a global challenge and aren’t constrained to particular regions.
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