Foot-and-mouth disease: the gaps in South Africa's efforts to keep it under control

South Africa needs to develop and produce its own vaccines to protect cloven-hoofed animals from foot-and-mouth disease. Lucas Ninno/Getty Images

In mid August, South Africa’s minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development Thoko Didiza responded to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease with a nationwide ban on the movement of cattle for 21 days. By late August, 127 cases of the disease had been recorded in six of the country’s nine provinces. The Conversation Africa spoke with Rebone Moerane and Melvyn Quan about the disease, its effects and the government’s mitigation strategies.

What is foot-and-mouth disease?