0
The current Foot-and-Mouth Disease is different from the outbreak which occurred in Camperdown , KwaZulu-Natal , in 2000, which was identified as serotype-O. The FMD serotype-O is a foreign virus which is commonly found in the Middle East .
Currently, further tests are being conducted to identify the strain.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) together with the Provincial Department of Agriculture in KZN has intensified the surveillance with a view to determining the furthest point of infection.
Surveillance will be conducted in areas north of the Umfolosi River . Additional surveillance will be conducted in the South of KwaZulu-Natal and in provinces adjacent to KwaZulu-Nata (Free State , Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga ).
The provincial South African Police Service and the Road Traffic Inspectorate have been made aware and are on stand-by to be activated urgently as and when the need arises to assist with the setting- up of roadblocks to control the movement of live animals. The department will also be liaising with the neighbouring countries, Swaziland and Mozambique , to ensure harmonised control measures.
The matter has been reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) last Friday (25 February 2011). As a result of this development we temporarily suspended the official OIE recognised FMD-free status of South Africa . Consequently, we have suspended all exports of cloven-hoofed animals; inter alia, cattle, goats, sheep and their products with immediate effect, except for products that have been fully processed to inactivate the FMD virus.
http://www.daff.gov.za/doaDev/articles/FMD_03March2011.html
