Acts Online
GT Shield

Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act No. 35 of 1984)

Notices

Control Measures relating to Outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease

Part D: Countrywide Surveillance and Termination of Outbreak

18. Surveillance to Determine Extent of Spread

 

This section is applicable to the country as a whole and will mainly be driven by the National Directorate Animal Health, with support from the Provincial Veterinary Services.

 

18.1. Surveillance to determine the extent of spread will depend on the outbreak specifics (communal, commercial, auction, extensive, intensive etc.), therefore specific guidelines can only be given once an outbreak has occurred. Surveillance includes both clinical inspection of livestock as well as the collection of samples for sero-surveillance and agent identification. For sero-surveillance, serum samples are collected and are tested for all three serotypes (SAT 1, SAT 2 and SAT 3) of FMD by Solid Phase Competition ELISA (SPCE). For agent identification, where fresh clinical signs are seen, lesion samples and/or probang samples are collected for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.

 

18.2. Surveillance may include some or all the following measures:
(a) Clinical and/or serological surveillance at neighbouring properties.
(b) Clinical and/or serological surveillance of animals sharing communal grazing/water.
(c) Clinical and/or serological surveillance of animals linked by trace-back and trace-forward activities.
(d) Clinical and/or serological surveillance of properties in the DMA or standstill area.

 

18.3. Laboratory results on circulating strains must be provided on a continual and timely basis to an advisory body responsible for vaccine evaluation to ensure appropriate vaccines are sourced.

 

18.4. Outbreak strains from different relevant species, representative of the field diversity, must be sent to the World Reference laboratory on a bi-annual basis to ensure vaccine matching is kept up to date.