South Africa Begins Nationwide Foot-and-Mouth Vaccination to Protect Livestock Sector and Stabilize Meat Prices
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South Africa has rolled out an unprecedented nationwide vaccination campaign targeting all 7.2 million cattle to contain the expanding foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak threatening agricultural output, export markets, and domestic food-price stability. The government aims to secure “disease-free with vaccination” status, restore confidence across value chains, and prevent further disruptions to beef supply.
The Department of Agriculture is deploying two million vaccine doses by February 2026, arriving in two shipments, while accelerating construction of a mid-scale domestic vaccine manufacturing facility to reduce reliance on imports. The outbreak remains most acute in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which accounts for 180 of the country’s 274 active cases, concentrated in Kokstad, Dundee, Underberg, and Dannhauser. Authorities report vaccinating 931,200 animals over the past three months but note that uncontrolled livestock movement continues to hinder containment.
Priority provinces for the campaign include KZN, Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga, and North West, where farmers are required to submit herd counts and quarantine lists. To strengthen capacity, the government is formalizing public-private partnerships with local and international players, including technical support from China and Argentina, following years of declining output at the state-owned Onderstepoort Biological Products.
Livestock and poultry generate roughly half of South Africa’s agricultural GDP, making rapid containment essential to protecting export access and stabilizing a domestic red-meat market already experiencing price spikes linked to supply disruptions. The FMD crisis has intensified food-inflation pressures, strained farmer finances, and exposed structural weaknesses in vaccine production and logistical coordination.
While the nationwide campaign represents the strongest intervention to date, its success will depend on improved enforcement, surveillance, and cross-provincial coordination. International collaboration aims to address logistical bottlenecks and rebuild long-term vaccine manufacturing capacity to prevent recurring outbreaks.
