Barometer: 1019
Rel humidity: 60%
Temp: 20.6
0/8 cloud
No wind
No rain
Aliwal North
Barkly East
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Rift Valley Fever
By Sipokazi Maposa
Health Writer
The provincial Department of Agriculture has given assurances that fresh meat in the Western Cape is safe, following reported cases of the deadly Rift Valley fever in the province.
Department spokesperson Wouter Kriel said that while there was no need to panic, farmers and farm workers should be extra vigilant, and avoid performing autopsies on animals as this could encourage the spread of the disease.
A state veterinarian from Beaufort West is being cared for at home after contracting the disease while performing a autopsy on an infected animal.
Kriel said about 40 000 doses of vaccine had been sponsored by the provincial government in the Murraysburg district in the Karoo.
Two cows had died in the Northern Cape and a flock of young Merino lambs had died on a farm in Beaufort West. The necropsy findings were typical of Rift Valley fever. Other cases of deaths and animal abortions were also being investigated.
* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on March 31, 2010
Health Writer
The provincial Department of Agriculture has given assurances that fresh meat in the Western Cape is safe, following reported cases of the deadly Rift Valley fever in the province.
Department spokesperson Wouter Kriel said that while there was no need to panic, farmers and farm workers should be extra vigilant, and avoid performing autopsies on animals as this could encourage the spread of the disease.
A state veterinarian from Beaufort West is being cared for at home after contracting the disease while performing a autopsy on an infected animal.
Kriel said about 40 000 doses of vaccine had been sponsored by the provincial government in the Murraysburg district in the Karoo.
Two cows had died in the Northern Cape and a flock of young Merino lambs had died on a farm in Beaufort West. The necropsy findings were typical of Rift Valley fever. Other cases of deaths and animal abortions were also being investigated.
* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on March 31, 2010
Aliwal WX
Barometer: 1020
Rel humidity: 82%
Temp: 15.3
0/8 cloud
No wind.
11mm rain last night ( Windpoort)
Rel humidity: 82%
Temp: 15.3
0/8 cloud
No wind.
11mm rain last night ( Windpoort)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)