South Africa to Import Vaccines to Tackle Foot-and-Mouth Disease

South Africa will import vaccines from Argentina, Turkey and neighboring Botswana in a bid to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has severely impacted red meat and dairy producers.

It has been difficult to quantify the damage caused by the virus, which maims cattle rather than killing them outright, “but the industry has been hit really hard,” Agricultural Minister John Steenhuisen told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday. “There is a stigma attached to reporting an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease by farmers due to the requirements to place the farm under quarantine.”