Abstract:
Pig production is one of the most important animal agricultural activities in South Africa,
and plays a definite role in providing food security for certain population groups in the
country. As with all animal production systems, it is subject to the risk of outbreak of
transboundary diseases. In the present overview, evaluations of the perceived risk of selected
transboundary animal diseases of pigs, as collated from the willing participants from the
provincial veterinary services of South Africa, are presented. A scenario tree revealed that
infected but undetected pigs were the greatest perceived threat. The provincial veterinary
services, according to participants in the study, face certain difficulties, including the
reporting of disease and the flow of disease information amongst farmers. Perceived strengths
in surveillance and disease monitoring include the swiftness of sample despatch to the
national testing laboratory, as well as the ease of flow of information between the provincial
and national agricultural authorities. The four factors were identified that were perceived to
most influence animal health-service delivery: transport, access, livestock policy and
resources. African swine fever was perceived to be the most important pig disease in South
Africa. Because the decentralisation of veterinary services in South Africa was identified as a
potential weakness, it is recommended that national and provincial veterinary services need
to work together and interdependently to achieve centrally controlled surveillance systems.
Regionally-coordinated surveillance activities for certain transboundary diseases were
identified as needing priority for the southern African region. It is proposed that an emergency
preparedness document be made available and regularly revised according to the potential
risks identified on a continuous basis for South Africa.
