FOOT AND MOUTH OUTBREAK AT KARAN BEEF

A worrying number of Food and Mouth Disease have been confirmed across South Africa. The latest is at the country’s largest feedlot and beef producer, Karan Beef.

The company, situated in Heidelberg, Gauteng, has confirmed the news.

As a precautionary measure, Karan Beef’s facility has been placed under pre-emptive quarantine since last Friday.

Doctor Dirk Verwoerd, Senior Feedlot Veterinarian at Karan Beef, has said that more than 2,000 of their cattle are showing signs of being infected with Foot and Mouth Disease.

He confirmed that no movement or slaughtering of cattle will take place until the beef producer has dealt with the case.

The first confirmation of an outbreak was reported in Mpumalanga in May. Since then, outbreaks in three other provinces have been reported and confirmed.

As recent as March, KwaZulu-Natal reported an outbreak, and the provincial government required a province-wide vaccination campaign.

Due to the March outbreak, as well as the more recent reports, China has suspended its South African beef imports. They blamed it on the spread of the disease.

Although the disease does not affect humans, it can affect sheep, cattle, goats, swine and other cloven-hoofed animals.

Image credit: Freedom Front Plus