GIYANI – “Do not panic about the outbreak of foot and mouth disease at Dzumeri and Seloane,” said the spokesperson of the provincial department of agriculture, Mr Ndo Mangala.

According to Mangala, the disease is under control and the department is vaccinating the livestock in the surveillance areas.

“We are inspecting the dipping tanks on a weekly basis and we have already set up roadblocks around the clock in and around the infected areas. At the dipping tanks, we are taking blood samples and sending them for analysis,” he said.

He added that, since the start of their preventative measures, no new case of the disease has been reported from the area. “Because the outbreak started in a communal area, where there is a mixture of animals, we are trying to contain as many areas as possible to stop this disease,” he said.

Mangala added that they could confirm that the disease was under control because they are always liasing with their technical staff on the ground. “We understand that the cattle around those two villages were infected with the disease by the buffaloes from the game reserves that are near those two villages,” he said.

The foot and mouth disease was discovered at Seloane Village outside Giyani towards the end of last month, and it is reported to have already affected the communal stock farmers within the Giyani and Phalaborwa municipalities.