Animal auctions to blame for foot and mouth disease, says agriculture dept
Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) are prevalent in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, while the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape remain FMD-free.
Giving an update on the status of the outbreak and measures to curb the spread of the disease on Tuesday, the agriculture department said auctions largely contributed to the spread of the disease.
Dr Botlhe Modisane, chief director of animal health and production, said auctions have been playing a major role in spreading the disease, particularly the Utrecht auction in KwaZulu-Natal.
The department was still seeing animals going to auction spreading the disease because biosecurity rules were not complied with.
'Before 2019 South Africa had free status for FMD. In 2019 we had an outbreak in Limpopo that resulted in the loss of the free status,' Modisane said.
Outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal have been simmering since 2021 but remained contained until the disease started moving from the west to more commercial areas this year.
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