Seventeen cattle have tested positive for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) out of 199 samples collected as part of intensified surveillance following the detection of the disease in the Karasburg State Veterinary District.
Acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Charles Mubita, says all 17 positive cases remain confined to the Karasburg State Veterinary District, with no positive cases detected in the other regions where samples were collected.
Dr. Mubita says 199 samples were collected between 22 and 25 September as part of routine surveillance and precautionary measures.
Of these, 117 samples were collected in Karasburg, one in Windhoek and Ondangwa, 50 in Gobabis and 30 in Otjiwarongo.
He says traceability investigations also identified four cattle that had moved from the infected farm in the Karasburg district to the Otjozondjupa Region.
Clinical examinations were conducted, and 30 samples were collected on 24 September from the four cattle and an additional 26 cattle tested as a precaution.
Mubita says all 30 samples tested negative.
A total of 65 cattle on the infected farm, as well as animals in the immediate surroundings, remain under strict monitoring.
"The outcome of the traceability revealed that there were four cattle that moved from the infected farm in the Karasburg district to the Otjozondjupa region. A clinical examination was carried out, and a total of 30 samples were collected on 24 September 2026. These samples included the four cattle from the currently infected farm and an additional 26 cattle that were tested on a precautionary basis. These 26 cattle are residential and are not connected to the origin of the infected farm. All the tested samples yielded negative and negative results."
He says the intensified surveillance is aimed at determining the extent of the infection and will guide decisions on when and where restrictions imposed following the outbreak can gradually be lifted.
The Ministry issued a notification on 23 September in terms of the Animal Health Act, activating the country's FMD contingency plan and imposing restrictions on the movement of cloven-hoofed animals and their raw products.
Mubita says the restrictions are necessary to give authorities time to assess the extent of the outbreak and implement measures to contain the disease.
"As the 14-day incubation period is still ongoing. While surveillance shall continue, we will announce in due course the lifting of some restrictions in certain areas in line with the Animal Health Act 1 of 2011 through veterinary public notice. I therefore call upon every Namibian, individually and collectively, to fully cooperate with the authorities during this difficult period as we are working tirelessly to normalise the situation."
Meanwhile, the Ministry, with support from the livestock industry, has established an FMD support fund to mobilise resources for the response to the outbreak.