JOHANNESBURG, April 22 (Reuters) – South Africa’s government said on Wednesday that it had received 2 million doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine from Turkey, as authorities intensify efforts to contain the country’s worst outbreak in years.
• The vaccine, supplied by Turkey’s Dollvet, will be distributed to provinces in the coming days based on animal population and risk, the agriculture department said in a statement.
• A further 4 million doses have been ordered from Dollvet.
• Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral infection that mainly affects cattle, causing painful blisters in the mouth and on hooves. Although it is not often fatal, especially among adult cattle, it affects livestock productivity.
• The government has faced criticism from livestock farmers, who say they are suffering heavy losses over its handling of the outbreak, with some threatening legal action.
• An additional 5 million vaccine doses have been ordered from Argentina, with delivery expected in two batches once import approval is granted by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, the statement said.
• In February, South Africa rolled out its first foot-and-mouth vaccine in 20 years in a bid to ease a shortage of inoculation doses.
• The government is aiming to vaccinate 80% of South Africa’s national cattle herd, estimated at about 14 million.
• The agriculture department said it would allocate some vaccine doses to the pork industry, as pigs can also be affected by foot-and-mouth.
(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Alexander Winning and Joe Bavier)
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