Gen Bheki Cele to visit Bushbuckridge

BUSHBUCKRIDGE- The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, General Bheki Cele is set to visit Bushbuckridge this Friday.

The purpose of his visit is to highlight the measures taken by the department to curb the current outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in the province.

According to Wikipedia, Foot and Mouth Disease is an infectious viral disease that infects cloven-hoofed animals like pigs and cows. Although the disease can be fatal, there are measures that can be taken to curb its spread. An example of such is a vaccine which can help prevent animals from being infected.

Regarding vaccinations, Ms Zanele Shabangu, the Head of Communications at the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs stated “We had staff challenges that prevented us from rolling out an extensive vaccination program.

However we have hired adequate staff and we should be able to vaccinate all livestock as a preventative measure. At present we have inspections every seven days in the affected zones to monitor the spread of the infection and the effective of the vaccination programs.”

At present, the department with help from the Ehlanzeni District Municipality Disaster Management and Public Safety is focusing on the NODAL zones.

This comprises of the Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the KwaZulu-Natal provinces which are currently experiencing an outbreak of the disease. The current outbreak is a continuation of the outbreak from the previous year. By the March 12 2014, there were 29 reported cases of cattle infected with Foot and Mouth Disease in Bushbuckridge.

To hear more about what the department plans to do, community members and livestock farmers are invited to join the minister at 13h00 at the Mariti Community Hall in Bushbuckridge on Friday ,January 16.