SA to vaccinate 14-million cattle

President Cyril Ramaphosahas announced that his government will vaccinate all the country’s cattle amid the biggest outbreak offoot-and-mouth diseaseSouth Africa has experienced. Speaking during hisState of the Nation Addresson Thursday, Ramaphosa said SA will purchase 28-million FMD vaccines over 12 months. “While the rest of our agriculture sector is thriving, the cattle industry is today facing one of the worst outbreaks of FMD disease our country has experienced,” he said.

“This disease is damaging our economy, resulting in export bans, trade restrictions and devastation of herds. “We have decided to vaccinate the national herd of 14-million cattle.” Ramaphosa said the state would facilitate the acquisition of the vaccines centrally “to ensure that we get the right vaccine for the particular strain of the virus in SA”. He said the state will work closely with the private sector to enable an efficient rollout and will ensure that commercial, private and communal farmers have immediate access to vaccines.

“I have established a task team made up of farmer organisations and experts, working together with the minister of agriculture and his department, that will report to me every month about the progress we are making in dealing with this pandemic.” Dispatch sister publication Business Day earlier this month reported that SA lost its FMD disease-free status in 2019. The current outbreak began spreading beyond controlled zones in 2021. All nine provinces have reported infections.

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Eastern Cape rural development department spokesperson Athule Joka late on Thursday said the province at present had 28 confirmed cases of FMD and 70 suspected cases, which he said are spread throughout the province. Mbizana has been declared the province’s epicentre. “The number 28 does not refer to affected cattle, but to farms and villages where this outbreak has been confirmed.

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