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The country continues to experience an outbreak of Food-and Mouth-Disease in various provinces; though it has been contained in some of the provinces, it is still very much alive in other provinces.
According to the Minister for the Department of Agriculture (DoA) John Steenhuisen, the department procured 900 000 doses of vaccine from neighbouring country Botswana from their Botswana Vaccine Institute to the value of R72 million. He said 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.
“Just over a week ago, we received the remaining 400 000 doses of which 50 000 are already distributed. The remaining doses of the vaccine will go to areas currently experiencing outbreaks—these include Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng,” said Steenhuisen.
The country is currently facing 274 unresolved cases of FMD in five provinces, a serious threat to the industry and the economy at large. According to Steenhuisen, at the beginning of 2025, active FMD outbreaks were confined to KwaZulu-Natal. Unfortunately, by the end of May 2025, new outbreaks had emerged in other provinces.
“At present, there are 274 unresolved outbreaks across KwaZuluNatal, Gauteng, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga. Positive cases have been confirmed in all cattle farming systems—commercial beef herds, animal breeding, feedlots, dairy cattle, and communal herds.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the outbreaks have continued to spread westward, with confirmed cases in the Dundee, Dannhauser, Newcastle, Alfred Duma, Okhahlamba, uMshwathi, eDumbe, and eMadlangeni local municipalities. Fortunately, the disease appears to have abated in the eastern part of the DMA, though 180 outbreaks remain open in the province. The virus spread from KwaZulu-Natal into Mpumalanga through an auction in February 2025.
By late May 2025, additional outbreaks were reported in Gauteng, North West, western Mpumalanga and Free State. Investigations suggest both farm-to-farm spread, and “pinpoint” introductions associated with livestock movements where isolation protocols were not observed as contributors to the spread of the disease. Current numbers are as follows: Gauteng: 54 outbreaks; North West: 26; Mpumalanga: 9; and Free State: 5,” explained the Minister.
Minister John Steenhuisen has since appointed a government task team to help deal with the outbreaks.
