The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) has welcomed Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s announcement, this week, of efforts to procure additional vaccines to mitigate against Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), the lifting of certain disease management areas and the establishment of an industry and government task team to stabilise animal health in the country.

The AMIE encourages the task team to first and foremost coordinate resource mobilisation from the industry towards the procurement of additional vaccines.

In a media statement issued on September 1, Steenhuisen said the Industry/Government Task Team on Animal Disease Prevention, Management and Control will be established imminently. It will comprise representatives from the Department of Agriculture, State veterinary services, including provincial veterinarians, and the Agricultural Research Council.

From the private sector, veterinary experts from the University of Pretoria and the World Organisation of Animal Health have been nominated to represent the industry on the task team, as well as specialists in infectious diseases across the milk processing, ostrich, feedlot, abattoir and general bovine herd management industries.

Steenhuisen recognised the severity of concern around FMD in South Africa, with outbreaks having far-reaching consequences for government, industry and farmers.

The Minister listed the province with the most active cases of FMD since the start of the year as being KwaZulu-Natal, which will be prioritised for the delivery of vaccines.

There are about 274 unresolved outbreaks of FMD across KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga, including on commercial beef farms, breeding farms, feedlots, dairy cattle farms and communal herds.

The KwaZulu-Natal outbreaks are concentrated in the Dundee, Dannhauser, Newcastle, Alfred Duma, Okhahlamba, uMshwathi, eDumbe and eMandlangeni local municipalities.

Fortunately, the disease appears to have abated in the eastern part of the province; however, 180 outbreaks remain open in KwaZulu-Natal alone, while Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Free State have 54, 26, nine and five active outbreaks of FMD at the moment, respectively.

Steenhuisen said, so far, 900 000 doses of vaccines have been procured in the current financial year. The vaccines, worth R72-million, were procured from the Botswana Vaccine Institute.

The first 500 000 doses arrived in June and were used to vaccinate cattle in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, North West and Free State.

The remaining 400 000 doses were received last week, of which 50 000 have already been distributed.

The remaining doses of vaccines will go to areas currently experiencing outbreaks.

Steenhuisen also confirmed in the statement that the Eastern Cape remains free of FMD outbreaks, with the last outbreak in the province having been recorded in September last year. While the disease management area for the province was lifted on July 4 already, certain affected farms in Humansdorp and East London remained under quarantine until final testing has confirmed the absence of the FMD virus.

Additionally, no cases of FMD have been detected in the Northern and Western Cape provinces. Similarly, Limpopo remains free of FMD outbreaks, with the last one having been resolved in August 2023.

Veterinary services remain vigilant in these provinces, but Steenhuisen said their success depends heavily on livestock owners adhering to movement restrictions and biosecurity requirements.

Steenhuisen lamented how current approaches to biosecurity are fragmented and lack sufficient enforcement and coordination, which contributes to the persistence of outbreaks.

Some of the Minister’s proposed measures include revising control zones, expanding capacity for sampling and diagnostics and increasing access to vaccines.

South Africa will continue to secure additional vaccine doses from Botswana until local production is scaled up.

A mid-scale vaccine facility with a capacity of 150 000 to 200 000 doses a year is on track for commissioning in March 2026.

Ultimately, Steenhuisen said, more studies and efforts are necessary to unify FMD protocols under a national plan, deploy rapid tests in the field and reduce lab turnaround times, expand animal identification systems to regional benchmarks, strengthen research on local strains and post-vaccination immunity, secure sustainable funding across the value chain and reassess outdated or unsupported policies, such as fifth quarter disposal.

He called on farmers to show collective discipline and cooperation to comply with biosecurity protocols, including reporting suspected cases and respecting movement restrictions for animals showing clinical signs of FMD infection.