Gaborone: Botswana plans to slaughter close to 10 000 cattle to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), according to reports monitored here on Tuesday.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture Molebatsi Molebatsi said the Gaborone authorities wanted to cull 9 757 cattle in North East District close to the border with Zimbabwe.
He said the move was necessitated by a rise in cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the area where some 19 000 cattle had been affected.
Botswana was forced to suspend exports of cloven hoof animals, beef, fresh meat, raw animal products in August, following a foot-and-mouth outbreak in the country.
The government has also suspended the movement of cattle within the country.
Foot and mouth is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed animals.
The ban is expected to hurt Botswana’s earnings as the country is one of the biggest beef exporters to the EU where it enjoys duty- and quota-free access. The country earned about $20 million last year from beef exports to the EU.
The ban on the movement of cattle follows similar action by neighbouring South Africa and Namibia in August.
According to the South African government, in April, the outbreaks that troubled South Africa were caused by illegal movements of animals out of the FMD-controlled zones in Limpopo.
Despite the fact that South Africa lost its OIE-recognised FMD-free zone status in 2019, the permanent movement restrictions remain in place in the FMD protection zones in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. It is illegal to move cloven-hoofed animals and their products out of the FMD protection zone without permission from the state veterinary services. The OIE is the international organisation for animal health.