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

Notices

Control Measures relating to Outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease

Part A: Immediate Measures on FMD Suspect and Confirmed Locations

5. Diagnostic Sampling

 

5.1 State Veterinary Services will investigate and collect or supervise the collection of samples for diagnostic confirmation.

 

5.2 In the acute phase of the disease, when clinical signs are present, swabs or tissue samples must be collected from any blisters or erosions in the mouth or on the feet. The preferred tissue for diagnosis is epithelium from unruptured or freshly ruptured vesicles or vesicular fluid.

 

5.3 In the absence of clinical signs but where FMD is suspected, serum must be collected for serology. A representative number of animals on the farm must be tested serologically for FMD. Serum samples must be collected from 30 animals per epidemiological group of up to 1000 animals, and 60 samples per epidemiological unit for groups of more than 1000 animals.

 

5.4 Samples may only be submitted to an FMD-designated laboratory as determined by the Director for FMD testing. Copies of sample submission forms must be submitted to [email protected] for approval of payment for testing.

 

5.5 Samples collected for virus isolation and PCR (swabs, tissue samples) must be kept chilled on ice in transit to the laboratory. Ideally, these samples should be placed in 5ml of phosphate-buffered saline if the samples are to be submitted within 24 hours, or in 50% glycerol-phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4) if delivery will exceed 24 hours. Tissue samples collected in an approved pathogen-inactivation and preservation media, such as DNA/RNA shield or RNA Later, can be submitted to an FMD-designated laboratory not approved to process samples containing infectious FMD virus (FMDV).

 

5.6 Serum collected for serological testing must be spun down and kept cool, but not frozen.

 

5.7 All samples must be treated as a high biosecurity risk, securely triple packaged in leak-proof material and dispatched directly to the laboratory without delay by the responsible state veterinary services.

 

5.8 No samples may be removed from the property without written permission (red cross permit) from the state veterinarian, unless the samples are transported to the laboratory by the state veterinary services.