South Africa has banned the importation of honey from Zambia after detecting the American Foulbrood disease in samples from two locations in Zambia.
A letter by the agriculture department to honey importers said the bacterial disease is capable of killing a bee colony.
It has no cure and it contaminates beekeeping equipment, so once detected they must be destroyed to prevent the disease from spreading.
Zambia has reacted to the ban. The country’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba told journalists that he would fight the ban.
