<http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n13_26022008.htm>

Vaccinations urged as killer ‘sheep Aids‘ hits Southern Cape

Janine Oelofse GARDEN ROUTE BUREAU CHIEF

SOUTHERN Cape farmers have been urged to be on the lookout for symptoms of
a deadly sheep disease which authorities say has slowly spread to
“hundreds” of farms in the Western Cape.

The agriculture department appealed to Western Cape sheep farmers this
week to remain calm in the face of the spread of Ovine Johne‘s Disease
(OJD), commonly referred to as “sheep Aids” because of the emaciation it
causes.

The disease was first detected on 47 farms in Caledon, Ceres and Mossel
Bay a decade ago, but has slowly spread to hundreds of farms, especially
in the Caledon area and the Southern Cape.

But the provincial agriculture department has moved to reassure farmers
that their interests would be protected by the department.

“The situation is under control,” said the MEC‘s spokesman, Alie van
Jaarsveld. “We have vets working on it full-time.”

OJD, or paratuberculosis, is a chronic and contagious disease found
worldwide, characterised by persistent and progressive diarrhoea, weight
loss, debilitation, the thickening of the mucous membranes, and eventual
death.

It is considered a “problem” in South Africa because it is hard to detect
and can kill up to 20 per cent of sheep in highly infected flocks.

Van Jaarsveld said an official count of sheep currently affected was not
available yet, but the supply of mutton to the market could drop if it
spread further and it was decided to slaughter the sheep in the infected
areas.

The Small Stock Health Advisory Body, which was formed to deal with the
problem, has advised that heavily infected areas be declared “OJD Control
Areas”. This will allow free movement of live animals within these
confines, but prevent their transportation to the outside world except for
slaughter.

This would prevent the legal requirement of placing infected flocks under
quarantine, he said.

The body also advised farmers to vaccinate their sheep and announced the
requirement of written vendor declarations on the OJD status of their
flocks.

“The veterinary services of the national government and the provinces
launched an intensive round of workshops and meetings ... to formulate a
policy to address this situation,” Van Jaarsveld said.

This led to the formation of the advisory body, which will present its
final policy proposals to Agriculture Minister Lulu Xingwana and her nine
provincial MECs.

State veterinary surgeon Dr Dempsey de Lange said yesterday the only cases
confirmed so far in the Southern Cape were in Mossel Bay. He urged farmers
to be on the lookout for unexplained diarrhoea with chronic progressive
wasting in their adult sheep.

“Farmers who notice (this) should consult their vet and those who lose
their animals due to these symptoms should have them sent for an autopsy,”
De Lange added.