Cattle auction linked to new outbreak in KZN

THE Department of Agriculture has confirmed new positive cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock in the Newcastle and Bergville areas of KwaZulu-Natal. The outbreak has been traced to an auction held in Utrecht, northern KZN, in February, officials said.

- WENDY JASSON DA COSTA

The Ministry of Agriculture said that a “traceback epidemiological investigation” linked the outbreak to the auction and reiterated that the National Biosecurity and Movement Controls control measures which were introduced in October 2022 remain in effect.

Joylene van Wyk, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, said that records of all the animals that were at the auction were obtained and that “trace-forward exercises” were also being conducted.