Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been confirmed in kudu at Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape, after a second round of diagnostic tests on samples from affected animals came back positive. The first tests were negative. South African National Parks (SANParks) said its wildlife health surveillance picked up an increase in lameness among kudu, and it notified the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture, which is working with the park. No other wildlife species in the park are showing signs consistent with FMD. Addo remains open, FMD is not considered a human health risk, and visitors must follow the park’s biosecurity instructions.
The source of the infection is not yet known. SANParks Head of Communications JP Louw said the cause and any link to other outbreaks in the province are under investigation. “Positive results in kudu confirm the presence of the virus in animals in SANParks, but do not on their own establish the source of infection, the direction of transmission or a link between Addo Elephant National Park and any other outbreaks in the province,” he said. On 14 October, Heinrich Müller, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Shadow MEC for Agriculture in the Eastern Cape, said the finding must prompt “urgent provincial action” on stray livestock and biosecurity. He has written to Eastern Cape Agriculture MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe, asking her to bring together municipalities, provincial conservation authorities, SANParks and national veterinary authorities.
The DA said municipalities in affected and high-risk areas should identify roaming livestock, trace the owners and contain the animals safely, with any collection or impounding following state veterinary instructions, since putting potentially exposed animals into shared pounds could spread the disease. It also called on the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency to assess provincial nature reserves, listing boundary fencing, surveillance of susceptible wildlife, movement restrictions and disinfection of vehicles and equipment as priorities. Müller said the department should publish regular updates on testing, vaccine deployment and containment, and that vaccination must reach commercial, communal and small-scale livestock owners. The party said it raised stray livestock in the Inxuba Yethemba municipal area last month, after farms there confirmed FMD. It did not say the kudu were infected by stray livestock, and SANParks said it has not established the direction of transmission.
