KUGOMPO CITY - For many of us, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) feels like a farm problem, far removed from the cities.
But it spreads fast through direct contact with contaminated items, causing massive economic losses.
Rarely fatal in adult animals, it slashes meat and milk production.
This often leads to higher prices for meat and dairy everywhere.
READ: Inflation edges higher in December as meat and beverage prices climb
Meat prices jumped 12 percent in December, the highest spike in eight years.
As FMD spreads to more animals, prices are likely to rise further.
And farmers aren’t the only ones hurting.
Butchery owners are concerned about the future of their business.
It's also affecting a lot of customers who can't afford to buy something small to put on their tables.
But, at the end of the day, they have to turn around to look somewhere else to buy something affordable.
Until now, dairy products have not been affected.
But eight of the country’s nine provinces have already recorded cases, and fears are growing the situation will get worse.
The government has a battle plan, though.
For the first time in over two decades, a locally produced vaccine is being used in the fight.
The Eastern Cape is one of six provinces to benefit from the first batch of locally produced vaccine doses.
- eNCA’s Ronald Masinda reports.