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The Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says the province continues to be plagued by the Food and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, 23 new cases have recently been recorded bringing the total number of cases to 419 in the Free State.
According to the department, the new cases of FMD were recorded in in Kroonstad (2), Viljoenskroon/Vredefort (4),Edenville/Koppies (3), Vrede/Memel (1), Frankfort/Cornelia/Villiers (5), Welkom/Odendaalsrus/Ventersburg/Henneman/ Virginia (6) and Qwa Qwa/Harrismith (2).
The province continues to battered by the outbreak across 17 municipalities, according to the department, these municipalities include:
Kroonstad outbreak (Moqhaka Municipality) – Twenty (20) confirmed cases.
Viljoenskroon/ Vredefort outbreak (Moqhaka Municipality) – Sixty-seven (67) confirmed cases.
Heilbron outbreak (Ngwathe Municipality) – Nine (9) confirmed cases.
Edenville/ Koppies outbreak (Ngwathe Municipality) – Fourteen (14) confirmed cases.
Parys/ Vredefort outbreak (Ngwathe Municipality) – Fifty (50) confirmed cases.
Sasolburg/ Deneysville outbreak (Metsimaholo Municipality) – Forty-six (46) confirmed cases.
Frankfort/Cornelia/Villiers outbreak (Mafube Municipality) – Thirty-five (35) confirmed cases.
Bethlehem outbreak ( Dihlabeng Municipality) – Fourteen (14) confirmed cases.
Tweeling outbreak (Mafube Municipality) – Seven (7) confirmed cases.
Reitz/ Lindley outbreak (Nketoana Municipality) – Twenty (20) confirmed cases.
Warden outbreak (Phumelela Municipality) – Twelve (12) confirmed cases.
Vrede / Memel outbreak (Phumelela Municipality) – Twenty (20) confirmed cases.
Qwa-Qwa/ Harrismith outbreak (Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality) – Nineteen (19) confirmed cases.
Welkom/ Odendaalsrus/ Ventersburg/ Henneman/ Virginia outbreak (Matjhabeng Municipality) – Fourteen (14) confirmed cases.
Bothaville outbreak (Nala Municipality) – Seven (7) confirmed cases.
Marquard/ Senekal outbreak (Setsoto Municipality) – Twenty (20) confirmed cases.
Hlohlolwane (Clocolan) outbreak (Setsoto Municipality) – Twenty-three (23) confirmed cases.
Ladybrand outbreak (Mantsopa Municipality) – Two (2) confirmed cases.
Smithfield/Rouxville outbreak (Mohokare Municipality) – Three (3) confirmed cases.
Edenburg/Reddersburg outbreak (Kopanong Municipality) – Six (6) confirmed cases.
Bloemfontein outbreak (Mangaung Metro) – One (1) confirmed case.
Thaba Nchu outbreak (Mangaung Metro) – One (1) confirmed case.
Bultfontein outbreak (Tswelopele Municipality) – Four (4) confirmed cases.
Boshof/Bultfontein outbreak (Tokologo Municipality) – Five (5) confirmed cases.
“The Department received 200 000 doses of the Biogenesis Bago vaccine on 25 February 2026 and 195 000 doses of the Dollvet vaccine on 12 March 2026. Vaccination rollout in all five districts commenced on 26 February 2026.
A total of 150 346 cattle have been vaccinated with Biogenesis Bago and the Dollvet vaccine. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL VACCINATION IS FREE OF CHARGE.
Applications for vaccination are open, and the Department has received a large number of requests. It is important to note that not all applications will be successful during the first round of vaccination, as the Department has prioritised high-risk areas through a targeted vaccination approach,” said Moliehi Moeng, the Spokesperson for the department.
Moeng says farmers are nevertheless encouraged to submit applications, as this information assists the Department with planning the vaccination rollout and determining future vaccine requirements.
“Movement restrictions have been implemented on all farms within a 10-kilometre radius of the infected farms. The infected farms have been placed under quarantine, and all farms within this radius have been notified and placed under precautionary quarantine until surveillance is completed to determine any further spread of the disease. All farms neighbouring suspect farms have been notified and also placed under precautionary quarantine pending results of suspect farm,” said Moeng.
