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The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) plays an important role in
acting as an occasional source of infection for domestic livestock - generally
cattle, under extensive conditions of husbandry in southern Africa. Individual
buffalo can carry FMD virus for up to 5 years and small herds of buffalo
are capable of maintaining multiple virus types over very lengthy periods.
However, the infection of buffalo normally takes place in the total absence
of observable clinical signs. The precise mechanisms involved in the transmission
of FMD virus from buffalo to cattle are not fully understood.
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