In light of the working group meeting held in Pretoria on the 14 May 2009, addressing the outbreak of American Foulbrood (AFB) in the Western Cape, the Department of Agriculture (DoA) issued a media release outlining a cohesive approach in managing the AFB outbreak.

EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE
DATE: 16 May 2009

COHESIVE APPROACH IN MANAGING AFB OUTBREAK

PRETORIA: 16/05/2009: Following the outbreak of the American Foul Brood (AFB) in a number of hives in the Western Cape, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry held a series of meetings and discussions with the industry and research bodies, to discuss policy guidelines that will inform decisions required for the implementation of urgent steps to deal with this outbreak.

Representing the Industries were the South African Bee Industry Organisation (SABIO), the Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust (DFPT), the South African National Seed Organisation (SANSOR) as well as the Agricultural Research Council Plant Protection Research Institute (ARC-PPRI).

Having evaluated various options that had been tabled, a progressive eradication plan was decided upon with the first phase entailing actions relating to the destruction of hives currently known to be infected.

This will be followed by surveillance and eradication processe that will unfold until the delimiting survey is finalised. Meanwhile, a joint launching of the second phase by the National Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as well as the Western Cape department of agriculture is under consideration.

This phase will combine a delimiting survey with progressive eradication, prioritising on the requirement for bees to be moved for commercial pollination purposes by mid-August. However, as information is gathered, further decisions will be taken.

Within this context, a policy / decision making forum and a steering committee (SteerCo) were established. The latter will functions as a command post situated on site in the Western Cape where the disease is prevalent. So far the disease has been found in the hives of only six beekeepers in the calling for a targeted focus in the eradication process.

The AFB poses a number of challenges for the area. Besides commercial honey production, bees are also used as pollinators for commercial crops such as deciduous fruit and vegetable seed production. A lack of bees could therefore cause significant production losses. Hives used for this purpose would need to be moved to the relevant production sites by mid-August, which puts a tight timeline on the urgently required risk management measures.

Industry recognises the complexity of the issues at hand and that long-term effects must be considered as well as this year’s pollination needs. In principle it supports the ideal of an eradication strategy while also recognising all short-term effects of this strategy. 

Going forth, the industry supported compulsory registration, in terms of which industry representatives committed themselves to using only registered producers and marked hives. This collaborative effort will in the long-term work towards healthy hives. 

AFB is a serious disease of honeybees caused by the bacterial pathogen, Paenibacillus larvae. It has evidently been present in many areas in the world at least for over three hundred years except in the sub-Saharan Africa where it has only been found as spores in honey, not in bees. As it was previously not known to occur in South Africa, it has always been regarded as a quarantine pest and a national survey to detect it has been underway for the past few years. Early in the year, the ARC-PPRI confirmed positive AFB laboratory tests for samples of diseased Honeybee brood collected in the Western Cape.

The AFB pathogen affects only bees. It is not easy to detect because it requires specialised laboratory identification and infections can be sub-clinical: symptoms are not visible at first because nurse bees clean out the infected larvae. Clinical symptoms appear only when the colony has lost control, which can take from two to three years. Internationally it is accepted that such colonies will die if not treated. This effect is currently being seen in the Western Cape.

Bee farmers may contact the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, or the provincial department of agriculture or SABIO for more information.

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Compiled for the department by:
Priscilla Tsotso Sehoole
Chief Communications Officer
Department of Agriculture
Tel: 012 319 7017
Fax: 012 319 7858
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Website: www.nda.agric.za