Please find attached soundbite and a video link by Janho Engelbrecht MP
Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) a state-owned company that develops the most of the vaccines used to protect South African animals, including horses, from disease is in desperate short supply of African Horse Sickness (AHS) vaccines.
This was revealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Thoko Didiza following the DA’s parliamentary questions. Further to this, parliament passed an AHS Motion on 22 March 2022.
After carefully studying and consulting with experts pertaining to the responses from Minister Didiza, we can give the following feedback:
- OBP) does not have enough vaccine stock to meet the demand for next years’ season that starts on 1 June 2022;
- OBP does not have a functioning freeze-drying unit, critical in the production of any viral vaccine; and
- The last AHS vaccines was produced in April 2021;
Without a functioning freeze-drying unit OBP can’t produce any more AHS vaccines. The current OBP vaccine is the only scientifically proven defence against this disease. While there are a number of other experimental vaccines investigated locally and internationally none of these are close to gaining approval for safe use and marketing, therefore does not provide a short term solution to the problem.
There is however a short term solution that can provide relief and give OBP time to get their production capacity in order.
The DA will request Minister Didiza to instruct OBP to involve the private sector as a matter of urgency in order to manufacture the OBP vaccine at a compliant facility and that these vaccines be made available to end users as soon as possible. We will further request that any additional costs associated with this emergency measure not be transferred to the end user.
AHS has substantial financial ramifications for the equine industry and OBP’s inability to meet the growing demand for vaccines is very bad news and paints a bleak picture for the next season.
The DA will keep a close eye on these developments and provide feedback on a regular basis.