Siaya residents are panicking over the outbreak of highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease. On Monday, the county closed Arram, Akala and Bondo markets to contain the disease. The viral disease is severe, affects cattle, sheep and goats, among others, and can be fatal. Symptoms include fever, blisters in the mouth and on feet, a drop in milk production, weight loss, appetite loss, quivering lips, frothing at the mouth and limping. “Laboratory tests of some samples were positive, prompting my office to close the markets,” he told farmers in Mbaga on Wednesday.

Source: The Star January 31, 2019 20:57 UTC