By: Natasha Archary
South Africa is in the grips of what is being called the worst outbreak of foot and mouth disease to have ever hit the country.
This after the global outbreak took hold of 22 farms in Bloemfontein alone. To date there are 116 cases of the infectious disease reported in SA.
With a 21-day ban on the movement of cattle firmly in place, Agriculture Minister, Thoko Didiza says the precautions are to curb further spread and deal with the outbreak.
All exports have also been halted with the only exception being livestock that will be moved to abattoirs and the slaughter of animals for rituals and cultural ceremonies.
According to Didiza, all farms that have reported cases have been quarantined and an estimated 55 000 cattle have been vaccinated.
“One of the important interventions that we’re making to save the industry is to contain the disease. We’ve been battling this and we’ve tried to contain it in areas such as Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.
There was then a spread in the North-West, in one of the feed lots, which also had a subsidiary feed lot in the Free State where we also picked up foot and mouth disease. It’s therefore important for us to take harsher measures to contain this disease because if we do not take such decision we will actually jeopardise the entire livestock industry.”
Agriculture Minister, Thoko Didiza says this is the worst outbreak of foot and mouth disease the country has ever seen
Foot and mouth disease is a severe and highly contagious viral disease that affects livestock, deeply affecting the production of livestock and disrupting regional and international trade in animals and animal products.
The disease is rarely fatal in adult animals, but there is often high mortality in young animals.
Signs of the disease include fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves.
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