Another Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak raises alarm among farming organisations

The spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in South Africa has sparked renewed concern among agricultural associations following an alarming announcement from the Department of Agriculture on Monday.

The latest outbreak was confirmed on a commercial farm in the Moqhaka Local Municipality, Kroonstad, Free State, marking a significant expansion of an already troubling situation for the country’s agricultural sector.

Reported on July 10, 2025, the new outbreak saw the affected property placed under immediate quarantine on July 8, and stringent control measures were implemented swiftly.

This development follows earlier announcements that disease management areas in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo would be lifted due to successful containment efforts. However, the optimism surrounding these areas is rapidly overshadowed by the resurgence of FMD in a new locality.

As of July 2025, South Africa has recorded a staggering total of 270 FMD outbreaks across five provinces. Alarmingly, 249 of these outbreaks remain unresolved, eliciting distress from various stakeholders within the agricultural sphere.

The province of KwaZulu-Natal has been the hardest hit, reporting 191 outbreaks, with a concerning 172 still open. In contrast, the Eastern Cape, which has reported 40 outbreaks, has seen no new cases since September 2024.

Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), said that we continue to struggle with Foot and Mouth Disease in South Africa.

“Still, the FMD is not widespread, but in certain farms in about five of our nine provinces. The vaccination process has started, and the affected farms have been placed in quarantine,” Sihlobo said.

“Beyond these outbreaks, what is clear is that South Africa must increase investment in vaccine manufacturing and improvement of biosecurity controls, both for animal and plant health. These are costly to farmers and agribusinesses. We are partly here because the State-Owned Entities, mainly the OBP, have lost some vaccine production capacity. They must be revived.” 

Sihlobo said the sector has also witnessed, in recent years, that outbreaks of various diseases were becoming more frequent.

“This means there is now greater urgency for inventing and focusing on biosecurity. The collaborative tone that we heard a few weeks ago at the University of Pretoria Biosecurity conference should now be put into practice, drawing on efforts from academia, the private sector, organised agriculture, and the government. Biosecurity is key to our agricultural progress,” he said.

“For consumers, while we signal these issues, it is important to stress that it is safe to consume red meat (and all meat) in South Africa.” 

Francois Rossouw, the CEO of Southern African Agri Initiative, said that the latest outbreak of FMD underscored the continued fragility of South Africa’s containment strategy, with 249 of 270 national outbreaks still unresolved across five provinces.

“While Limpopo remained under restrictions for years despite no active cases, provinces like the Eastern Cape - with 38 unresolved outbreaks and the North West - with four, currently have no clear containment zones in place. The inconsistency in applying Disease Management Areas (DMAs) is undermining both producer confidence and effective disease control,” Rossouw said.

“A DMA must now be urgently declared in the Free State, as well as in the North West, to prevent further spread. Without a coordinated, transparent, and uniform national response, including clear protocols for lifting and imposing DMAs, South Africa risks deepening its animal health crisis, endangering trade, and placing already vulnerable farming communities under further pressure.”

Dr Frikkie Mare, CEO Red Meat Producers' Organisation, said that the FMD situation remained a big problem and it was bad to hear that there was now also a positive case in the Free State.

“However, if you look at the total picture, it does not change much. The fact of the matter is that the disease is spreading faster than we can counter due to various problems such as vaccine shortages. We will have to come up with new plans to handle FMD in the future, as we know that the current measures are not sufficient,” Mare said.

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