Dr Mpho Maja, Director of Animal Health at the Department of Agriculture, spoke to OFM News about what the symptoms of this virus are as well as how to prevent an outbreak in piggeries. Maja says ASF is a disease that is caused by a virus. The virus mainly affects pigs – both domestic as well as wild pigs. She adds that ASF is not a zoonosis. This means that the virus cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans. Furthermore, Maja says once the virus is introduced into a piggery, it will kill the majority of the animals. Furthermore, pigs can also contract ASF through contaminated equipment or formites. Maja says that this typically occurs when the owner or someone who works at the piggery visits an infected piggery and bring equipment from the infected establishment to theirs. Provinces currently experiencing ASF outbreaks are the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Maja says the eMbalenhle area in Mpumalanga seems to have the presence of the virus going around at low levels. She says piggeries in Gauteng became infected through pigs that were transported from the abovementioned area to the province. Maja adds the outbreaks that were reported in the Free State, as well as the Northern Cape, were closed in 2020.

AND

AfriForum has submitted written commentary to the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure, against the Expropriation Bill. AfriForum argues that this bill should not be adopted, seeing as it will have a devastating impact on all South Africans’ lives in the contexts of home ownership, food security, and economic stability. Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for strategy and content at AfriForum, says various sections of the bill are also unconstitutional.

OFM News