South Africa has imposed a ban on the importation of all cloven-hooved animals and their products from Botswana following a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in that country, the agriculture department said on Wednesday.
Products banned included live cloven-hooved animals, including elephants, dairy products, meat products, hides and skins, hunting trophies, horns, hooves, bones, wool, hair, grass and pet food, it said in a statement in Pretoria.
South Africa recently regained its international foot-and-mouth disease free zone status.
”It is therefore very imperative that precautionary measures are taken in order to ensure that the suspected outbreak does not endanger the health of livestock in South Africa,” the statement said.
South Africa received a notification of the suspected outbreak on January 10. The national directorate of animal health and provincial veterinary services responded immediately by instituting precautionary measures at South African borders with Botswana.
”The South African Department of Agriculture is confident that the Botswana veterinary services will deal with this suspected outbreak as swiftly and effectively as they have done in the past,” the statement said. – Sapa