Foot-and-mouth disease 'under control'

This follows an outbreak of the disease in the area. So far only four cattle were found to have the disease.

The department's senior manager for veterinary services, Dr Lucas Mampane, said they officials were conducting further tests to determine the spread of the disease.

"We started with vaccinations on Monday (22 July) and hope to have completed by Friday (26 July)," Mampane said.

He said there were about 1,300 animals living in risk areas but that they were doing their best to contain the disease.

He said all the animals that had contracted the virus were grazing within their disease control area, which made things easier for officials to detect the disease at an early stage.

The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was detected early last week and laboratory tests released on 18 July that animals were infected in a communal grazing area north of Phalaborwa.

Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge