South Africa on Wednesday launched a sweeping 10-year vaccination campaign targeting nearly 20 million cattle as foot-and-mouth disease spreads rapidly nationwide.
The fast-moving outbreak is battering herds and tightening pressure on export markets that underpin the country’s vital livestock industry.
Foot-and-mouth disease, known as FMD, poses no threat to humans but devastates ruminant animals, including cattle, sheep and goats.
The virus causes fever and painful blisters in the mouth and near the hooves, often crippling animals and sometimes leading to death.
The outbreak began in 2021 and has now reached eight of South Africa’s nine provinces, according to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen.
He said the epidemic has taken a “financial and emotional toll” on farmers struggling to protect herds and preserve livelihoods.
Since losing its FMD-free status in 2019, Steenhuisen said, farmers have faced “unprecedented challenges” across both commercial and communal sectors.
He told reporters in Cape Town that he has received repeated pleas for help from producers pushed to the edge.
The government’s plan will roll out in four phases, combining imported vaccines with a rapid expansion of local production.
Vaccines will be sourced from Argentina, Turkey and neighbouring Botswana to meet immediate demand.
At home, a new production line is set to begin with 20,000 doses a week before scaling up sharply.
Officials expect domestic output to reach a capacity of about 960,000 doses weekly once operations are fully established.
The campaign aims to cut outbreak incidence by more than 70 percent within 12 months in high-risk provinces.
Nearly two million cattle have already been vaccinated under earlier efforts, Steenhuisen said.
Authorities are also preparing to declare the outbreak a national disaster, unlocking broader powers to intervene.
The true death toll remains unclear because many farmers cull infected herds and cases often go unreported.
The Southern Africa Agricultural Initiative, a farmers’ lobby group, said the plan still falls short of what struggling producers need.
The group warned many farmers are facing a “survival crisis” as disease controls squeeze operations and restrict market access.
Livestock exports are central to rural economies and national revenues, linking local fields to distant consumers.
In 2024, South Africa exported about 38,600 tonnes of beef, according to the National Agricultural Marketing Council.
Most shipments went to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, sustaining a key agricultural lifeline.
China, one of South Africa’s most important markets, has suspended beef imports over FMD concerns.
For many farmers, the vaccination drive now represents both a shield against disease and a fragile hope for recovery.