All Hands on Deck: South Africa Launches Its Largest Ever Foot-and-Mouth Vaccination Campaign

The South African government is pulling out all the stops to combat a relentless foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak, launching what it calls the most aggressive vaccination campaign in the nation’s history. With new cases continuing to emerge, the agricultural sector is in a race against time to protect the country’s vital livestock industry.

Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has declared FMD a crisis and is spearheading a multi-pronged response. At the heart of the strategy is a massive inoculation effort. The government has already procured over 1.5 million doses of SAT-strain FMD vaccine from the Botswana Vaccine Institute (BVI) at a cost of more than R70 million, with more deliveries expected before the year’s end.

A Widespread Challenge Demands a New Strategy

The urgency is palpable. Recent weeks have seen confirmed outbreaks at facilities like Sparta Beef in Marquard and its Alma farm in Clocolan, where all cattle have now been vaccinated. This pattern of spread, primarily through the movement of infected animals, has led industry leaders to question the current approach.

Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services, voiced a critical question many are asking: is it time to shift from a reactive “outbreak containment” vaccination policy to a proactive, “regionally coordinated vaccination strategy”? This would represent a fundamental change in managing the disease.

The Push for Self-Sufficiency and Systemic Overhaul

Beyond the immediate vaccination drive, the government is working on a long-term systemic overhaul. This includes establishing a government-industry task team and tightening animal identification and tracking systems to better control livestock movement.

However, a recurring theme in the crisis is the dependency on foreign vaccines. The call for local vaccine production is growing louder. Francois Rossouw, CEO of the Southern African Agri Initiative, underscored this urgency, especially with the new threat of “canyon fever” now detected in the Northern Cape. “All of this comes down to us urgently starting local vaccine production,” he stated.

For South Africa’s farmers, this large-scale vaccination drive is a critical lifeline. But it is also a stark reminder of the systemic vulnerabilities in the agricultural sector. The success of this campaign will not only be measured in doses administered, but in the ability to build a more resilient and self-sufficient system for the future.

{Source: Citizen}

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