South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak has spread to all nine provinces, with 932 outbreaks formally reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), as the government rolls out the cabinet’s targeted national vaccination strategy.
Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen told MPs vaccination efforts are now fully operational across provinces following the arrival of additional consignments. “Vaccination is under way across all provinces,” he said. He confirmed 1-million doses procured from Argentina have been released into the field after regulatory and logistical delays were resolved.
He visited KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State to monitor progress, reporting that more than 90,000 cattle had already been vaccinated in the Free State.
A further 1.5-million doses from Dollvet in Türkiye have arrived and are being distributed, bringing the total available supply to 2.5-million doses. “It is that scale and speed that we need across the country,” Steenhuisen said.
He added the cabinet has endorsed a targeted strategy aligned to identified risk zones and resolved to establish an interministerial committee, led by the department of international relations and co-operation, to pursue a co-ordinated regional response through the Southern African Development Community following recent outbreaks in Zimbabwe and Eswatini.
Confirmed cases continue to rise and the true number of outbreaks exceeds those reported to WOAH because of reporting processes and pending laboratory confirmations.
— Dr Botlhe Modisane
Presenting the technical update to parliament’s portfolio committee on agriculture, ministerial advisory task team member on animal disease prevention and control Dr Botlhe Modisane said confirmed cases continue to rise and the true number of outbreaks exceeds those reported to WOAH because of reporting processes and pending laboratory confirmations.
Outbreaks
Outbreaks have been recorded in every province. The Northern Cape has reported a feedlot outbreak, while the Western Cape outbreak has expanded to Malmesbury. The number of cases is increasing across provinces, with many suspected infections still awaiting laboratory confirmation.
The breakdown reported to WOAH shows the Free State with 277 outbreaks, KwaZulu-Natal 202, Gauteng 195, North West 119, Mpumalanga 79, Eastern Cape 33, Limpopo 23, Western Cape three and Northern Cape one, totalling 935. The department told MPs these figures understate the scale of infection.
Vaccination and containment
Vaccination and containment measures are under way nationwide. The Free State has vaccinated 119,300 animals using ARC and BVI vaccines and deployed 35 roving roadblocks, supported by 19 joint operations committees meeting weekly. North West has vaccinated 61,225 cattle, KwaZulu-Natal 11,494 and Gauteng 1,700.
The Western Cape has vaccinated 13,913 animals and implemented daily roadblocks near the west coast, City of Cape Town and Garden Route areas, with R100m allocated for the coming financial year. Limpopo has vaccinated 17,000 animals and submitted a business case requesting R45m.
Risk zones
The vaccination campaign is guided by a municipal-level risk model developed by epidemiologists.
Municipalities are classified as primary, secondary or tertiary risk zones based on a heat map assessment, with classifications determined by a task team in consultation with provinces. Animal census data draws on the 2019 UN Food and Agriculture Organisation census, Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy figures and provincial data, and will be adjusted as distribution progresses.
Under the three-tier framework:
- Tier 1 covers emergency zones within a 10km radius of officially declared outbreaks. Ring vaccination must be deployed within 48-72 hours of confirmation, with 100% coverage targeted and a 1-million-dose vaccine bank retained for immediate deployment.
- Tier 2 applies to endemic and primary risk areas, including municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, North West and parts of the Free State, with biannual mass vaccination campaigns targeting full cattle coverage.
- Tier 3 covers buffer and secondary zones, with targeted herd vaccination and enhanced surveillance.
The department estimates 12.49-million cattle fall within identified risk categories:
- 3.76-million in primary zones (30%);
- 7.21-million in secondary zones (58%); and
- 1.53-million in tertiary zones (12%).
KwaZulu-Natal accounts for 1.6-million cattle in primary zones, followed by the Free State at 659,125 and Eastern Cape at 508,454.
South Africa expects 2.5-million vaccine doses by end-February 2026 — 1-million from Biogenesis Bago and 1.5-million from Dollvet. Ten percent of doses have been set aside for emergencies in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Limpopo, while 90%, or 2.25-million doses, have been allocated to primary priority areas. KwaZulu-Natal will receive 43% of primary allocations, the Free State 18% and Eastern Cape 14%.
The department also reported that vaccine procurement spending has been processed through a suspense account pending finalisation of transaction conditions. At midterm, overall departmental expenditure stood at R3.046bn, or 40% of the R7.609bn budget, underspending the drawings target by R705.5m.
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