Agriculture to start roll-out of foot-and-mouth jabs
On Monday, the Department of Agriculture began rolling out foot-and-mouth disease vaccines, with a strong focus on KwaZulu-Natal.
The current outbreak was traced back to a livestock auction in northern KZN and has since affected some farms in Newcastle and Bergville.
Nine hundred thousand much-needed vaccines arrived from Botswana on Friday.
They have been sent to state vets in KZN, Gauteng, the North West and Mpumalanga.
Farmers will get them for free.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen says the vaccinated animals will be safe to eat in six weeks.
READ: NEHAWU raises alarm over surge in HFMD cases in KZN
" We're going to start in Gauteng and in the disease management area in KwaZulu-Natal, so that we can start ensuring that the food security and the price of food are not affected, and getting those feedlots and avatars back up as quickly as possible."
He says the outbreak has had a devastating impact on the economy and consumers.
" I'm sure that people have noticed the price of beef has gone up quite substantially, and that's as a result of supply and demand. Obviously, there was an outbreak at one of the bigger feed lots. It supplies the meat industry in South Africa, and that's obviously led to a compromise on the quantity of beef that is available.
"I think it's very important to re-emphasise that red meat in South Africa is absolutely safe to eat. Foot-and-mouth disease does not affect humans in any way, shape or form."
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