At a recent public engagement organised by the Democratic Alliance (DA) regarding the acute shortage of African Horse sickness vaccines, the CEO of Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), Luvuyo Mabombo, committed to deliver on their yearly target of 90 000 doses by the end of October.
According to OBP, there are currently around 65 000 doses available, yet veterinary surgeons and horse breeders have been complaining that they have no access to these vaccines, and hundreds of horses have died an excruciating death.
The DA welcomes the CEO’s commitment to sourcing any available vaccines to assist with this shortage, yet it is estimated that there are over 320 000 horses in South Africa. Each horse needs two doses or two vaccinations, and foals require three vaccinations per year before the end of October. This is a clear indication that OBP is oblivious to the huge need for this critical vaccine in the industry.
OBP, once a world leader in animal vaccine production, is now failing the horse industry and has become a shell of its former self and needs ICU treatment from the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza.
Professor Alan Guthrie, the senior researcher at the Equine Research Institute, also provided detailed information about this virus, which has a 96% fatality rate and is busy decimating the horse industry.
The DA proposes that to alleviate the severe constraints experienced at OBP in vaccine production, the vaccine strains developed by OBP be made available to private veterinary manufacturing companies. The DA will continue to lobby the Minister for this to happen, as this is essential for the maintenance of livestock and animal health in South Africa and neighbouring countries.
The DA will closely monitor this situation and continue to engage with both OBP and the horse breeders to ensure that OBP delivers on its promises.