The spread of foot-and-mouth disease FMD is tightening its grip on South Africas livestock sector, pushing farmers closer to the brink as the government promises intervention, while warning its full recovery plan could take more than a decade to deliver results.
FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact. The disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.
Northern Cape is the only province in the country that has not reported a case, but in other provinces the disease is dominating, threatening dairy farms in KwaZulu-Natal and livestock in the Free State.
