No more pork chops: as imports from SA suspended

Namibia has stopped the importation of pork and raw pork products from South Africa, due to the outbreak of the African Swine Fever.
African swine fever causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in pigs, but persistently infects its natural hosts, warthogs, bush pigs, and soft ticks with no disease signs.
Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Sophy Kasheeta, in a statement earlier this week said the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in South Africa has officially reported an outbreak of African Swine Fever, in the country.
Kasheeta said, her ministry has immediately suspended the importation of live pigs and raw pork from South Africa on, until the outbreak is adequately resolved.
According to Kasheeta, surveillance activities at the official border points will be increased to ensure that products entering Namibia do not pose an increased level of risk for the pork industry of Namibia.
Meanwhile, earlier last week, the Ministry had lifted the suspension of cattle imports from South Africa following Namibia’s attainment of negligible risk status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.