/ 26 August 2001

FOOT & MOUTH: SA BEEFS UP BORDER CONTROLS

SOUTH Africa is beefing up patrols on the northern border with Zimbabwe after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease there. Agriculture department chief director Emily Mogajane said troops and agriculture officials had been deployed. “We are concerned that the current turmoil in Zimbabwe would make it difficult to control the movement of infected livestock and contaminated water,” she said. At least 7 000 cattle are to be destroyed in an effort to contain the disease, blamed on the actions of land invaders. – AFP