Foot and mouth in Mat'land worry government

Matabeleland foot-and-mouth outbreak is giving government a headache as it has not yet been completely contained, Agriculture deputy minister (Livestock) Paddy Zhanda told parliament on Thursday.

"Foot-and-mouth disease is a problem in Matabeleland, but we do not want to rely on vaccination of cattle only to control it because they (vaccines) are expensive and we buy them from Botswana.

"We do not want to centralise marketing of cattle, which will spread foot-and-mouth. What we are encouraging farmers to do is that the sale of cattle and establishment of feed lots should be done at the place where the cattle are produced so that small-scale farmers do not have to transport their cattle to Bulawayo."

Zhanda said such measures reduced the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease.

"Even in our negotiations with international animal health organisations, what comes out is that we should quarantine and fatten cattle at decentralised points to ensure there is no disease outbreak," he said.

Zhanda was responding to a question from Bulawayo Metropolitan Senator Agnes Sibanda, who demanded to know the status of the foot-and-mouth situation in Matabeleland, given that very few cattle were exhibited at the just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).