The Department of Agriculture has announced that South Africa will move to vaccinate its entire national cattle herd for Foot and Mouth Disease — a massive shift in its response to the national outbreak.
The Department of Agriculture has announced that South Africa will move to vaccinate its entire national cattle herd for Foot and Mouth Disease — a massive shift in its response to the national outbreak.
Minister John Steenhuisen made the announcement at the African Farmers Association of South Africa conference north of Pretoria on Wednesday . “The Department of Agriculture has resolved to implement a comprehensive strategy to vaccinate the entire national herd,” he said. “This strategy aims to vaccinate South Africa’s national herd systematically, beginning with the hardest-hit provinces.” Reporting from the conference, Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, Windile Sihlobo, said that the vaccination plan would be a massive undertaking, but was “courageous” given the threat of the diseases. “We have a national herd of around 7.2 million cattle. Still, this decision is courageous, as it ensures that South Africa protects its cattle herd and can continue its focus on red meat exports,” Sihlobo said.”Currently, South Africa is working to revive the Agricultural Research Council and Onderstepoort Biological Products to produce the essential vaccine. But the path must not end here,” he said.Sihlobo said that private labs must be included, as the stakes are incredibly high. He noted that the livestock and poultry industries account for half of South Africa’s farming economy.South Africa has been battling a major FMD outbreak this year, after the country’s largest feedlot, Karan Beef, reported an outbreak at its Heidelberg facility.This led to a concerted containment and vaccination drive, with exports closed off and local meat prices rising sharply as a result of lost stocks. According to Steenhuisen, despite the vaccination of over 930,000 animals over the past three months, uncontrolled animal movement has been undermining containment efforts.”We must be honest with the public and with our farming sector. This is a battle we are currently not winning,” he said, adding that it was time to up the ante. The Red Meat Industry Services body has been tracking the outbreak and providing constant updates about the efforts to contain and treat the disease. Steenhuisen said the RMIS and other industry players were instrumental in tackling the issue by tracking spread, aiding containment and supplying vaccines. The RMIS noted that imports of new vaccines from Türkiye are currently being tested at Onderstepoort’s TAD labs, with regulatory processes to import the medication to follow, based on the results of these tests. Steenhuisen said that, by February 2026, the department aims to take delivery of 2 million doses of FMD vaccines in two separate consignments. He added that a new mid-scale vaccine production facility is also being established in South Africa, which should make an additional 1.5 million vaccines available. Vaccination drives will focus on the provinces hardest hit by the outbreak, namely KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West. However, the minister stressed that the plan relies on consistent, high-quality vaccine supply, as well as effective law enforcement to prevent the uncontrolled movement of animals.Price – got to stay within the budget!
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