A serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has hit Beit Bridge district, with local authorities suspecting that the disease could have originated from 25 buffaloes that reportedly strayed into Zimbabwe from South Africa´s Kruger National Park.

The outbreak has been noted in the eastern part of the border town in Tshikwalakwala, Malungudzi and Tshitulipasi villages, which are situated along the borderline.

The local Veterinary Services Department is now on high alert, following the detection of cases in the affected areas.

A local senior veterinary officer told Mirror that they started dealing with the outbreak a fortnight ago at a cattle auction in the Lutumba area outside Beit Bridge. "Preliminary investigations reveal that the disease spread across Beit Bridge East, after stray buffaloes from South Africa mixed with local herds of cattle. It then spread to other areas during cattle sales. We have started vaccinations and we have enough manpower to carry out the task.

"The whole district has now been put under quarantine until the situation gets back to normal as we have also recorded isolated cases in the Tshamnangana and Jopembe area in Beit Bridge West," said the official. He urged people to bring all their livestock for vaccination. Beit Bridge district falls under the country’s agricultural natural region five, where animal husbandry is the economic mainstay in the area.