In light of the ongoing outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in South Africa, and the fact that these have led to a national cattle transportation lockdown, SAPPO immediately released a series of FMD videos on social media to reach as many farmers as possible and inform them on the following aspects of the disease.
1. What is FMD?
2. What are the symptoms and clinical signs of FMD?
3. How is production affected by FMD?
4. How is FMD transmitted and spread?
The results
These educational posts were posted as a series between 18 and 20 August 2022 and reached 51 835 people, generating 6 565 engagements. The reach and engagement were highest in Gauteng, the Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
Due to the success of this campaign, SAPPO is currently developing the next set of videos that will be released shortly, with the following topics:
- What are the signs and symptoms of FMD in cattle?
- What are the signs and symptoms of FMD in sheep, goats, and pigs?
- What control measures can you take on your farm to help combat FMD?
- How to identify disease in your pig herd?
A special thanks goes to the SAPPO team (Dr Thandi Chiappero and Dr Peter Evans) for assisting in the development of the video content, as well as Justin Sandman of Sandman Productions for producing these videos.
The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.
