South Africa to ramp up vaccinations as foot-and-mouth disease spreads

South Africa is building up vaccine stocks and expanding inoculations to fight a worsening foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak, the agriculture ministry said, as the country faces threats to beef supplies.

FMD is a highly contagious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals that may also affect other species. Flare-ups have been reported over the past several months in five provinces, with KwaZulu-Natal being the worst affected.

This week Karan Beef, which operates the country's largest feedlot and one of the world's biggest, reported an outbreak at its facility in Heidelberg, about 50km southeast of Johannesburg. The quarantine imposed on the feedlot, which slaughters about 2,000 cattle daily, could affect beef supplies.

The government has ordered more than 900,000 doses of FMD vaccines, with the first batch expected to arrive next week, the ministry said on Thursday.

“These plans are not only about responding to outbreaks but also about building permanent infrastructure to manage future risks,” it said.

There are growing calls by some cattle producers to declare a “state of disaster” and protect the industry from financial losses. Invoking disaster law gives the government additional powers to intervene in a crisis.

The FMD outbreaks have resulted in South African beef and related products being banned in markets such as China, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

South Africa's livestock sector is also recovering from its worst avian flu outbreak, which destroyed a third of the national chicken flock in 2023.

On Thursday the government announced the first mass vaccination of poultry to prevent a repeat outbreak of high-pathogenic avian influenza, a bird flu that spreads rapidly in an infected flock, causing a high death rate.

Reuters