The Department of Agriculture says strict movement control and vaccinations will be applied to ensure that the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Limpopo does not spread.

“The authorities expect that the situation will be brought under control rapidly without undue effects on the agricultural industry as a whole,” spokesperson Steve Galane said.

The outbreak was confirmed in cattle at the Matiani dipping tank next to the Punda Maria Gate of the Kruger National Park, in the vaccination area of the FMD buffer zone. Some of the typical FMD symptoms are salivation with lesions in the mouth and on the tongue.

Eleven out of 45 animals that were put under observation late in July had these symptoms.

A diagnosis by the Exotic Diseases Division of the Agricultural Research Council’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute confirmed that the animals had a SAT-3 FMD virus type.

Mr Galane said the detection of the disease would not affect the country’s status of FMD-free zone without vaccination, as recognized by the International Office of Epizootics Animal World Health Organization. He said the area was under constant surveillance with twice a year vaccinations of all cattle in the buffer zone. There was also a strict movement control of all cloven-hoofed animals. Mr Galane added that both the national and provincial departments of agriculture had intensified the usual control measures in the area and no cloven-hoofed animals or their products would leave the area.

FMD is harmless to humans, but is dangerous to animals. It gets its name from the blisters that appear in the animals’ mouths and on their feet when they are infected with the virus. It affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The disease spreads easily and is mainly transmitted through direct contact between animals. However, it can also spread through being inhaled or excreted as well as in contaminated pastures and through infected milk and meat.