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South Africa began a mass vaccination of cattle on Friday to curb the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that threatens to disrupt the country’s meat, dairy, and livestock supplies and exports.
The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak intensified across South Africa’s livestock industry in late 2025. Over 297,000 cattle have been affected. As farmers attempt to contain the outbreak, over 120,000 animals have been culled.
South Africa risks mass meat shortages, job losses, and the loss of millions of dollars as countries, including China and Zambia, ban South African meat exports. South Africa has declared it a national disaster. The coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal has been identified as the hotspot for the outbreak.
The country’s Agriculture Minister, John Steenhuisen, on Friday launched the rollout of vaccines, with a million vaccines delivered from Turkey in recent days.
AP reports that more vaccines are expected to arrive this weekend, but there are concerns that the supply is far short of the required doses to vaccinate almost 12 million cattle.
“The one strategy that we have ultimately adopted is the mass vaccination strategy. So we can get ahead of the foot-and-mouth disease in South Africa and ensure that we can prevent outbreaks from happening rather than reacting to outbreaks,” said Steenhuisen.
Dr Dirk Verwoerd, a veterinarian at Karan Beef, said the outbreak is impacting all parts of the meat and dairy industry.
“You have massive damage upstream and downstream,” he told The Associated Press.
“You cannot purchase cows, so your primary producers now sit with them. They can’t sell, and we can’t purchase. You cannot slaughter, so the consumer pays the price,” said Verwoerd.
The northern region of Lesotho, a neighbouring country, has also reported cases of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle.
The outbreak was reported on February 18 after veterinary authorities identified cattle showing clinical symptoms of FMD at a cattle post in Mahlase, Botha-Bothe District of Lesotho.
