Foot-and-mouth disease spreads to North West

The North West department of agriculture and rural development has confirmed an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, specifically in the JB Marks local municipality.

- Tshehla Cornelius Koteli

This comes after South Africa's largest beef producer, Karan Beef, confirmed an outbreak of the disease at its Heidelberg feedlot in the province of Gauteng.

Provinces that already have cases include Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal.

It is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact. The disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.

It is characterised by fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves. It causes severe production losses, and while the majority of affected animals recover, the disease often leaves them weakened and debilitated.