(a) The following zones are in place for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) control purposes. These zones are not unique to South Africa but is an accepted international way to deal with zones of different FMD risk in a country.
The high risk posed by the buffalo in the infected zone is the reason for the permanent protection zone in the adjacent communities. The control approach is multi-layered, to provide for prevention of outbreaks, early detection of outbreaks, and limiting the spread of outbreaks as much as possible. The layers include fencing around the Kruger National Park, routine vaccination of cattle populations in the protection zone adjacent to the fence, regular inspection of all cattle in the protection zone, and movement control for cloven hoofed animals and products out of the protection zone. If the above system of prevention works well, then no outbreaks are reported in the protection zone and the zone serves its purpose well. That is currently the status. Should an outbreak occur in the protection zone, the systems are in already in place to detect the disease quickly and prevent its further spread.
(b) If there are reports of FMD in a specific part of the protection zone, premises with cloven hoofed animals in that area will be placed under quarantine to prevent further spread of the disease. Animals in such areas cannot be moved or marketed until the quarantine has been lifted. Farmers in the protection zone, in areas without active FMD outbreaks, are unfortunately negatively affected by the permanent restrictions placed on the area. Provision is made for moving of unvaccinated animals out of the protection zone. These animals are subject to quarantine and testing prior to movement and government subsidises the payment of some of these tests for non-commercial movements. There is also a drive to promote market access for farmers within the protection zone and government is engaging with a number of stakeholders in this regard.
Work on supporting the development of a system to improve market access for producers in FMD high risk areas as part of efforts to reduce the risk of live cattle movements to markets in areas of low risk including the previously WOAH-recognized FMD free zone without vaccination has been proposed. This work involves the setting up of feedlots and quarantine camps to support this activity particularly for animals intended for slaughter.