South Africa is ramping up its response to persistent and spreading outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), with the government deploying nearly a million vaccine doses to contain the threat to its vital livestock industry.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen announced that the government has secured 900,000 doses of FMD vaccine from the Botswana Vaccine Institute at a cost of R72 million. The first 500,000 doses have already been administered, and the remaining 400,000 are now being distributed to the worst-hit provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng.
The outbreaks have become more widespread since the beginning of 2025. What was once confined to KwaZulu-Natal has now spread to five other provinces, with a total of 274 unresolved outbreaks across the country. Steenhuisen noted that the virus moved from KwaZulu-Natal into Mpumalanga via a livestock auction in February, highlighting poor enforcement of isolation protocols and farm-to-farm transmission as key factors in the spread.
A Phased Strategy and Domestic Production
Despite the challenges, there have been some successes. The Eastern Cape has not recorded a new outbreak since September 2024, and the Disease Management Area (DMA) was lifted in July 2025. Similarly, Limpopo’s DMA was also lifted after all outbreaks were resolved.
To create a more resilient system, the Department of Agriculture recently convened a high-level meeting of over 400 stakeholders. The group rejected a proposal to declare FMD endemic—a move that would have dire economic consequences for trade. Instead, they endorsed a phased strategy aligned with the Progressive Control Pathway (PCP).
A key part of this strategy is the commissioning of a new domestic vaccine production facility, slated to open in March 2026. The facility will have the capacity to produce up to 200,000 doses annually, significantly bolstering the country’s long-term FMD response.
