Agriculture
Vaccines distributed to tackle Zim foot-and-mouth disease outbreak─── 14:51 Fri, 04 Sep 2015
Bloemfontein - Hundreds of thousands of doses of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine have been distributed in Zimbabwe as its veterinary authorities grapple to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) says a meeting between the directors of animal health/veterinary services of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe took place in Harare on Monday, August 31. It states that Zimbabwe’s chief veterinary officer gave assurances that the situation in the southern parts of the country is under control.
The DAFF meanwhile says over 450 000 doses of vaccine are being distributed in Zimbabwe. A total of 120 000 animals in the southern border area of Zimbabwe are expected to be vaccinated at least twice by end of September.
A quarantine is in place prohibiting the movement of cloven-hoofed animals to or from the area.
The affected area is near the Madimbo Corridor, a buffer zone between SA and Zimbabwe and also part of South Africa’s FMD protection zone. The DAFF has also urged the community to report animals straying over from Zimbabwe and avoid grazing livestock in the Madimbo Corridor area to prevent the spread of infection.
Source: Statement
