I don’t usually post press releases here, but this is important. This morning South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries informed us that there are positive laboratory results for Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle in the Vhembe District of Limpopo – a province bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Therefore, South Africa has temporarily lost its FMD-free status which might somewhat disrupt export markets for beef. I will comment more on this when we get further information from the government and other stakeholders.
The scientists are currently on the ground conducting further investigations to verify the results and determine the extent of the outbreak of FMD. The control measures will be determined by the findings of this investigation. You can access the official press release here.
Follow me on Twitter (@WandileSihlobo). E-mail: wandile@agbiz.co.za
