African Swine Fever Outbreak in Eastern Cape
The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, announced the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) at Amathole District Municipality in Eastern Cape.
This announcement follows investigations and a post mortem performed by departmental veterinary services on 13 April 2020, in the Amathole District Municipality whereby five villages were visited under the Mnquma Local Municipality in which 50 pigs have died.
The Minister notes that this is the first time that an outbreak of AFS has been recorded in this province. In the past 3 years, outbreaks of ASF outside of the ASF controlled area occurred in the Free State, North West, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces. It has not yet been determined whether this outbreak in the Eastern Cape is linked to the outbreaks in other provinces.
“This outbreak occurred in a communal setting, which makes movement control and biosecurity between the respective pig herds difficult. Control measures currently in place include that all infected pigs should be as far as possible from those that are not and must be housed alone to avoid contact with other pigs in the area to limit the spread of the disease,” said Didiza.
The area where the outbreak occurred has been quarantined and no pigs are allowed to move into, through or out of the area.
Follow-up investigations by provincial veterinary services are underway to determine the extent of the outbreak.
