The recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Botswana won’t easily spill over into South Africa’s Limpopo Province as the provincial agriculture department already has strict control measures along the border, provincial representative Phuti Seloba said in a statement.
National agriculture representative David Tshabalala said South Africa had banned all cloven-hoofed animals and products from Botswana.
“South Africa has recently regained (disease-free) international status and it’s therefore imperative that precautionary measures are taken,” Tshabalala added.
Foot and mouth disease is highly contagious amongst cloven-hoofed animals and causes blistering in the mouth and around the hooves. It can also cause inflammation of the heart muscle, especially in younger animals.
An outbreak in South Africa could cost the meat industry about R600-million in annual revenue.
The country’s industry is still trying to re-establish its international markets after its meat was internationally banned in 2000 following an outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal.
The national agriculture department spent four million rand to control the KwaZulu-Natal outbreak, and it took until June 2002 for the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) to lift the ban on the country’s meat.
OIE is an international organisation with 158 member countries, which is responsible for monitoring diseases affecting animal products. – I-Net Bridge