A massive vaccination blitz targeting 70,000 fresh doses is Gauteng's biggest weapon yet against a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that has already hit 228 farms.
Gauteng FMD cases keep climbing
Gauteng FMD cases keep climbing
- Confirmed outbreaks in Gauteng jumped from 173 in late January to 228.
- MEC Vuyiswa Ramokgopa says the spike reflects ramped-up surveillance, not runaway spread.
- Every single affected farm is under strict quarantine protocols.
- The disease hammers milk production and causes brutal economic losses for farmers.
- Gauteng scored 70,000 doses from a national batch of one million Argentine-imported vaccines.
- Over 268,000 doses have already been administered across the province.
- Farms near buffalo populations get top priority since those animals carry the virus.
- Communal grazing areas and dairy farms near infection zones are next in line.
- Over 297,000 animals have been affected since the outbreak kicked off in 2021.
- Nearly 129,000 were humanely slaughtered at designated facilities to curb the spread.
- Eight out of nine South African provinces have reported confirmed cases.
- KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Free State, and North West got hit the hardest.
- The national government adopted an FMD-free-with-vaccination approach going forward.
- Extra vaccine supply from Botswana is supplementing the Argentine imports.
- Local production at the Agricultural Research Council and Onderstepoort is in the pipeline.
- Full disease-free status without vaccination remains the eventual goal.
- Movement controls, vehicle disinfection, and immediate illness reporting are mandatory.
- Compensation for culled livestock gets pushed to after the crisis stabilizes.
- More designated abattoirs for FMD-positive animals are being explored.
- Small-scale and communal farmers are getting extra outreach and vaccine access.
