South Africa hit by second outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease

Several cattle in a feedlot outside the Mpumalanga town of Middelburg were tested positive on Wednesday, following the discovery of the disease among slaughter-cattle at a Swaziland abattoir, the Johannesburg Beeld newspaper reported.

It was not yet known whether the disease had spread from the KwaZulu-Natal Province where it has already reached epidemic proportions in the last month. Lourie Bosman, president of the Mpumalanga Agricultural Union (MAU), said the outbreak came as "a huge shock".

Representatives of the Department of Agriculture, the MAU and the Defence Force are to meet on Thursday to discuss a strategy to avoid another crisis. President of the Transvaal Agricultural Union Gert Ehlers said the outbreak of the disease in Mpumalanga could plunge the agricultural sector in chaos.

(la/dpa)