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The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on Wednesday that the foot and mouth disease outbreak in Limpopo province had been contained, but precautionary measures were still in place.
The department said the incubation periods prompted by the detection of foot and mouth disease had lapsed without any new cases detected. The department first announced that it found foot and mouth disease in Limpopo cattle in January.
The department said while there had been no detection of new cases for 10 days, vaccinations and movement restrictions would continue until the outbreak was fully resolved.
No spread
A statement from the department said comprehensive surveillance demonstrated that the virus did not spread and that the outbreak has been contained.
"There have been no new cases of foot and mouth disease detected in the disease management area declared in Limpopo in the last ten weeks and thus, three incubation periods have lapsed," the statement said.
Movement restrictions would remain in place for the next few months in the disease management area, while roadblocks would likely remain until the end of April, the statement said.
"No animals may move into, out of, through or inside the disease management area without state veterinary approval. No unprocessed animal products of cloven-hooved animals are allowed out of the disease management area without the necessary state veterinary permits," the statement said.
The department said it had negotiated the revision of veterinary health certificates for beef to Bahrain, Lesotho, Mozambique, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Swaziland, Seychelles, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
It needed more funding to put a more sustainable foot and mouth disease control strategy in place, it added.
