Inquiry wanted into African Horse Sickness vaccine
A South African lawmaker says she volition live writing to the country’s National Consumer Commission to seek an enquiry into the effectiveness of the vaccine against deadly African Equus caballus sickness.
The Democratic Alliance spokesperson for agriculture, Annette Steyn volition live writing over the vaccine produced yesteryear the state-run Onderstepoort Biological Products, next growing concerns that simply about horses that received the vaccine nevertheless got the disease.
Up to 1000 horses died of the illness concluding year, Steyn said.
“I volition write to the Minister of Agriculture, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, to telephone band for steps to live taken to ensure that OBP vaccines are subjected to testing yesteryear an independent oversight trunk such every bit the South African Bureau of Standards.”
Earlier this month, Steyn requested an investigation yesteryear the National Consumer Commission into potential breaches of the Consumer Protection Act yesteryear OBP over vaccines for Rift Valley Fever.
OBP is the state-funded works life primarily responsible for the research together with evolution of beast vaccines.
Steyn said the entity effectively had a monopoly on the production of vaccines. For example, all horses entered into official races have got to live certified every bit OBP-vaccinated.
The master vaccine for AHS was developed inwards 1957, together with the alone subsequent operate that’s been done was inwards 1995.
In 2006, horse-owners asked whether a novel vaccine would live developed. OBP promised at that topographic point would live ane inwards 5 years. No novel production has been made available.
According to the African Horse Sickness Trust, the most recent outbreak lasted 5 months together with has caused 31 deaths (out of 61 known cases thence far).
“The most problematic facial expression of the electrical flow province of affairs is that OBP’s internal lineament command region is responsible for oversight to ensure that vaccines produced comply amongst the necessary international standards,” Steyn said.
“This leaves also much room for abuse. OBP cannot live allowed to operate every bit both histrion together with referee inwards the lucrative vaccine market.”
“Vaccines are the most of import business of defense forcefulness inwards preventing together with controlling illness outbreaks. Farmers are currently vaccinating without confidence, together with OBP look intent on maintaining their monopoly inwards this lucrative manufacture at all costs.
“Minister Joemat-Pettersson should reply to this number every bit a affair of urgency.”
Kathy Wiles, amongst the AHS Research Assistance together with Surveillance Project, said Equus caballus owners were grateful for Steyn’s activity on the matter.
She said the projection wanted to have reports from Equus caballus owners who lost animals to the illness despite beingness vaccinated amongst the OBP product.
She described the number of deaths concluding twelvemonth every bit devastating. She said the 2011 figures on the AHS Trust website showed nether 1000, but it was estimated to live alone ane 3rd of actual numbers, due to under-reporting.
“The bulk of Equus caballus owners inwards South Africa are living inwards fright due to the increasing reports of vaccinated horses getting sick together with dying spell null seems to live done nearly this totally unacceptable situation.”
The bulk of Equus caballus owners felt completely “left inwards the dark” over the situation, she said.
“After many years of Equus caballus owners submitting reports to province vets together with the AHS Trust, at that topographic point has been absolutely no feedback at all on whatever research done amongst these many thousands of instance studies.
” There needs to live agency to a greater extent than pressure level lay on the Government to run into our demands for a novel ‘effective’ AHS vaccine every bit a affair of extreme urgency. Horse owners demand to help, bring together forces together with convey activity inwards realizing that nobody else is going to brand the divergence except us!”
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