About 72 cows have been affected, Halmiton Chimala, the ministry’s spokesman told MBC Online.

Mchinji has suspended cattle movement and slaughtering following the detection of the disease.

Chimala said normal control of the disease requires two rounds of vaccinations followed by post vaccination monitoring, which is blood sampling to determine the level of protection before removing restrictions.

“This is the approach the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development will follow. The good news is that the vaccination has commenced already,” said Chimala.