Agriculture Minister Establishes Task Team to Combat Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has announced the establishment of an industry-government task team to strengthen South Africa’s response to animal diseases, with a particular focus on foot-and-mouth disease. This move aims to improve coordination, enforcement, and accountability in tackling outbreaks that continue to affect farmers and the livestock sector across several provinces.
Formation and Role of the Task Team
The task team, made up of representatives from government and the red meat industry, will work together to boost prevention, management, and control of animal diseases. Steenhuisen made the announcement during a media briefing on 1 September 2025, where he outlined key steps to address the ongoing foot-and-mouth disease challenges. “The task team will ensure better coordination, enforcement and accountability in tackling animal disease outbreaks,” Steenhuisen said.
This group will report directly to the value chain roundtables, which include all stakeholders in the livestock sector. The team includes experts such as Dr Amanda Botes, a specialist in foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever diagnostics and molecular epidemiology; Dr Mark Chimes, chairperson of the dairy, brucellosis, and tuberculosis steering committee; Dr Pieter Evans, an expert in eradicating porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome and African swine fever outbreak management; Dr Baty Dungu, a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health scientific commission; Dr Danie Odendaal, a ruminant veterinarian specialist; Dr Gerhard Neethling, an export and abattoir specialist; Dr Francois Maree, a specialist in vaccine design, testing, and diagnostics; and Dr Livio Heath, who focuses on diagnostics, epidemiology, and international trade relations. The Red Meat Industry Services has nominated several veterinarians to represent the industry, ensuring a mix of public and private sector input.
The establishment follows a strategic bush meeting in July 2025, hosted by the Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Agricultural Research Council. At the meeting, Steenhuisen pointed out that current responses are often fragmented, with poor enforcement and coordination contributing to the spread of the disease. Key ideas from the gathering include updating control zones, building more capacity for testing and diagnostics, making vaccines easier to get, and improving systems to identify and track livestock.
Stakeholders also stressed the need for strong biosecurity measures. Without these, experts warn, efforts to contain the disease will stay weak. Biosecurity involves simple steps like limiting animal movements, keeping new animals separate for at least 28 days, and making sure farm boundaries are secure to stop contact with outside animals.
Vaccine Procurement and Distribution Updates
Steenhuisen gave an update on the country’s foot-and-mouth disease status, confirming that 900,000 vaccine doses worth R72 million have been bought from the Botswana Vaccine Institute for the current financial year. “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 Minister said.
The rest of the vaccines will go to provinces with active outbreaks, including the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West, and Gauteng. This vaccination drive, which started in late June 2025, aims to protect cattle in affected areas and stop the virus from spreading further. Each dose costs about R100, and the department has budgeted R1.2 billion for vaccines in the 2025/2026 financial year.
Looking ahead, a mid-scale vaccine production facility is set to start operating by March 2026, with the ability to make 150,000 to 200,000 doses a year. This will help South Africa rely less on imports and build its own supply. Steenhuisen has called on the treasury to prioritise funding for these facilities in the next budget, seeing huge economic potential for local revenue and trade in Africa. He envisions South Africa becoming a top vaccine supplier on the continent for strains like SAT1, SAT2, and SAT3.
Current Status of Outbreaks Across Provinces
South Africa is dealing with 274 unresolved foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State, North West, and Mpumalanga. Positive cases have shown up in all types of cattle farming, from big commercial beef herds and feedlots to dairy farms and communal setups.
KwaZulu-Natal remains the hardest hit, with 180 active outbreaks. The disease is spreading westward, affecting areas like Dundee, Dannhauser, Newcastle, Alfred Duma, Okhahlamba, uMshwathi, eDumbe, and eMadlangeni. While it has slowed in the eastern part of the province’s disease management area, the virus first appeared there with the SAT2 strain in 2021. It spread to Mpumalanga through an auction in February 2025, then to Gauteng, North West, western Mpumalanga, and Free State by late May.
Gauteng has 54 outbreaks, North West 26, Mpumalanga nine, and Free State five. Investigations show the spread comes from farm-to-farm contact and sudden introductions linked to moving livestock without following isolation rules.
On a positive note, outbreaks in the Eastern Cape from 2024 have not come back in 2025. The last case there was in September 2024, and after wide testing, the disease management area was lifted on 4 July 2025. Farms in Humansdorp and East London are still under quarantine for final checks, but results so far look good. This success came from strong partnerships, with farmers sticking to quarantine rules, Agri Eastern Cape helping monitor movements, and veterinary teams working hard.
Limpopo, Northern Cape, and Western Cape remain free of the disease, but Steenhuisen called for more watchfulness to keep it that way. In April 2025, one farm in Mpumalanga’s Gert Sibande area reported the disease, traced back to an auction in KwaZulu-Natal. In the Eastern Cape, a robust campaign vaccinated 144,424 animals, and no new cases have appeared since September 2024.
Challenges and Calls for Compliance
Steenhuisen urged farmers to follow the law and biosecurity rules. “Reports of farmers moving cattle showing clinical signs of the disease, or treating them privately without reporting, are deeply concerning and irresponsible. These actions not only contravene legal directives but risk entrenching FMD as endemic in South Africa,” he said.
He added that all livestock farmers must work with veterinary officials, report suspected cases right away to state vets, and avoid moving sick animals. Foot-and-mouth disease spreads quickly through contact and air, causing big economic losses from lower production and trade bans. It affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, pigs, and sheep, leading to blisters in the mouth, feet, and teats, but it is not a risk to human health—often mixed up with the unrelated hand, foot, and mouth disease in children.
The Democratic Alliance has welcomed these steps, noting the importance of no new outbreaks in the Eastern Cape and the vaccine facility plans. They plan to keep watching to make sure the government follows through. The African Meat Industry Experts have praised Steenhuisen’s quick actions, recognising the serious effects of the outbreaks on government, farmers, and the economy.
Steenhuisen rejected claims that the disease is out of control, stressing that the government is not spreading it but fighting it through these measures. He thinks about foot-and-mouth disease day and night, showing his commitment to fixing it.
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