IMPORT OF SOUTH AFRICAN MEAT BANNED

The Mozambican authorities have issued a temporary ban on the import of meat from several South African provinces, following an outbreak of Rift Valley fever in South Africa.The provinces covered by this measure are Gauteng, Free State, North-West, and the Eastern and Western Cape.The Ministry of Agriculture says that the ban (covering cattle, goats and sheep) also extends to Botswana and Namibia.Jose Libombo Junior, the deputy national director of livestock services, explained that the ban on imports includes all by-products from these animals from South African establishments not approved for exports. However, live animals may be imported from the South African provinces not covered by the ban (Mpumulanga, Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo) as long as all the normal animal health requirements are obeyed.Libombo added that among measures under way in the country are visual inspection of herds, and the provincial and district livestock services should be on the alert.Rift valley fever is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes which primarily affects domestic livestock, but can also be transmitted to humans. Most people who catch the disease recover within a week, but death results in about one per cent of cases.Fatality rates are much higher among animals, and the disease always causes pregnant animals to abort. In humans, symptoms include fever, generalized weakness, back pain, dizziness, and weight loss.