Due to the still unsolved deaths of 36 cows in a border location, Sierra Leonean authorities have barred the import and export of cattle from Liberia and beef from the neighboring nation, they said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to Monrovia, an investigation into the circumstances behind the death of cattle in a field early in July in the town of Kelima Bendu, in Lofa County, about ten kilometres from the border with Sierra Leone and about fifteen from the border with Guinea, is currently underway.
The Liberian government has not stated when the investigation’s findings will be made public.
While temporarily closing animal markets in the border region and stepping up security in slaughterhouses, Sierra Leone has barred the importation of meat products from Liberia and the movement of cattle, goats, and sheep along its border with that nation.
More than 200 animals perished in Sierra Leone in May 2022 as a result of an anthrax pandemic.
This illness, known as anthrax in English, can be lethal in its rarest forms and is spread by spores that can remain dormant in the soil for decades.
“So far, no cases of dead cattle have been found in other parts of Lofa or other counties,” Liberia’s agriculture ministry said on July 7.
