South Africa Begins Vaccinating Cattle as FMD Hits Four Provinces

South Africa has kicked off a national vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The move comes after confirmed outbreaks in four provinces, the South African Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday.

Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen oversaw the rollout at Karan Beef’s Heidelberg feedlot. The facility, near Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, confirmed an outbreak earlier this month.

"The first batch of 900,000 vaccines arrived in South Africa last week, and we commenced with the vaccination over the weekend," Steenhuisen told reporters on-site...

Brazil Confirms New HPAI Outbreak in Backyard Poultry

On Saturday, June 7, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock confirmed the detection of bird flu in a backyard flock from the municipality of Campinápolis, in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.

The Official Veterinary Service closed the property and collected samples for laboratory analysis, which confirmed the outbreak. This marks the fourth case of avian influenza detected in backyard poultry in Brazil.

On Sunday, June 8, eradication measures and surveillance actions began within a 10 km radius of the outbreak...

Philippines Plans to Soon Roll Out ASF Vaccine

The office of the President of the Philippines announced that the Department of Agriculture (DA) would roll out an African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine by September. The initial rollout will be for government use, with commercial use to follow.

According to the DA, the commercial trial for the vaccine is expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month, allowing the DA to start mass trials. However, the UK government noted in an ASF outbreak in Asia assessment report that the department...