Five things worth knowing about foot-and-mouth disease

The department of agriculture has taken measures to contain the spread of viral foot-and-mouth disease since its outbreak almost a month ago.

The highly contagious disease that affects livestock was detected in Limpopo's Vhembe district after there were reports of cattle with lameness in the area.

The news of the outbreak caused alarm and resulted in neighbouring countries banning South African meat and dairy exports.

In a media briefing on Monday, agriculture minister Senzeni Zokwana gave an update on the effects of the outbreak as well as progress made to combat it.

Here's what you need to know:

• The World Organisation for Animal Health temporarily suspended the country's FMD-free status, which ultimately saw some neighbouring countries institute bans on SA products.
• To prevent further bans, the department of agriculture negotiated with trade partners to consider the continuation of safe products, such as heat-treated meat, matured beef as well as dairy products. 
• The affected areas were quarantined. Four areas have now been declared FMD-free and reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health, which resulted in some trade partners relaxing their bans.
• The total number of cattle vaccinated since January 14 has increased to over 10,000. These cattle are marked and their movement restricted to prevent re-infection.
• To further prevent the spillage, road blocks were implemented on the N1 and R81 to ensure that no meat or dairy products left the areas in which the cattle were being vaccinated.  

In 2011, the FMD outbreak in KZN's Umkhanyakude district cost the country R4bn in revenue following a ban on SA exports.