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Farmers and state clash over response to cattle disease

The Agricultural Research Council has not sent foot and mouth disease samples to an international centre since January

The Agricultural Research Council’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Campus (known as ARC-OVR) is responsible for monitoring the foot and mouth disease epidemic. Photos: Ihsaan Haffejee

South Africa’s cattle farms are in the grip of a foot and mouth disease (FMD) epidemic.
In January, the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) sent FMD samples to the UK’s Pirbright Institute, but now says there is no need for Pirbright to duplicate routine testing that the ARC already does.
Farmers fear a lack of independent data analysis could hamper efforts to match vaccines, produced by large manufacturers in Argentina and Turkey, to changing strains of the virus. They are concerned that the ARC has a conflict of interests because it also manufactures FMD vaccines, albeit not…

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