The disease made headlines when an outbreak was confirmed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture in the northern part of the province. Dr Sewelan Davey, a retired veterinarian, explains Brucellosis is a bacterial disease which is contagious. Davey says that it is commonly found in cattle, but it affects most mammalia in species. She adds that the disease is a zoonosis, which means that humans can also get infected. The disease has a negative effect on the farming industry as it causes big production losses. Davey says because of efforts to control the disease, infected animals have to be slaughtered as they remain a source of infection for other animals. Davey says an infected person will experience flulike symptoms such as headaches and feeling debilitated. She says flulike symptoms would usually go away for a while and resurface again. She advises people that have these symptoms and know that they have been in contact with cattle to go see a doctor to get a diagnosis. Furthermore, she urges farmers to get their herd tested to make sure that they are free of the disease. With that being said, when buying animals, farmers should be careful and make sure that they buy from a herd that tested negative.

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Cape Wools reports that this week’s wool sale in Port Elizabeth consisted of another large offering of 13-thousand and 83 bales. 1-thousand 962 bales were withdrawn prior to the commencement of the sale and a final sales clearance of 96,15% was achieved. Long fine merino wools made up nearly 60% of the offering and 37% of the merino wools on offer were certified as sustainable. The market retracted by 1,4% from the previous sale to close on R142,03 p/kg, and the Australian market closed down 0.8% this week and recorded lower sales clearances. The next auction in Port Elizabeth is scheduled for the 2nd of December where another large offering of around 18-thousand 357 bales will be on sale.

OFM News/Algoa FM