Agri Eastern Cape said it was confident sheep on the Al Messilah stock carrier vessel that fell ill with the orf virus while on their way to the Middle East from East London would not suffer unduly.
The Eastern Cape government has downplayed fears that thousands of sheep loaded onto the livestock carrier Al Messilah, destined for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for slaughter, may be carrying an infectious disease after cases of ecthyma were detected at a feedlot where they were kept. This comes after the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) raised the alarm over the infectious disease.