Following Maun a reported case of the Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) in Ngamiland early this week, production at the Maun BMC abattoir has been temporarily put on hold.
FMD has been reoccurring in the Ngamiland district for many years which is partly blamed on buffaloes in the area. The regular out breaks are also blamed on failure by some farmers to get their cattle vaccinated. Department of Veterinary Services vaccinate cattle for the disease annually. However, farmers on the other hand also blame DVS for failure to maintain cordon fences separating cattle grazing areas with wild animals more specially buffalos which are known carriers of the disease.
Communications Officer BMC, Portia Motlhabane said this week that given the pronouncement(s) made by the Director Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) about suspected cases of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in Ngamiland ÔÇô the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has taken a decision to immediately halt production at its Maun abattoir.
“This decision, which only concerns the BMC Maun plant, effectively means that there will be no buying nor slaughter of cattle in the Ngamiland region until such a time advised by the Director DVS”, reads part of the BMC statement sent by Motlhabane.
The latest outbreak of the disease came at a time when Maun BMC was trying to open negotiations to export beef to South Africa and Namibia.
Besides the BMC owned abattoir Maun also has a private abattoir known Nhabe abattoir which has also reportedly closed.
