Vaccination efforts lead to a month without Foot and Mouth Disease in the Western Cape
No new cases have been reported in the Western Cape.
Image: Supplied
The Western Cape's intensified vaccination efforts have led to a month without new Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) cases.
Premier Alan Winde and Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer welcomed the signs of stabilisation in the outbreak on Tuesday.
“The most recent case of FMD was identified on March 22, 2026, in Prospect Hill in the City of Cape Town.
"Since then, no new confirmed cases have been detected, marking one month without a new case in the province,” Winde said.
Meyer highlighted that vaccination remains the cornerstone of the province’s disease control strategy.
“Foot and Mouth Disease presents a serious and ongoing threat to our livestock industry, food security, and rural livelihoods. Vaccination remains the cornerstone of the Western Cape’s disease control strategy, as clearly articulated in our 21-point plan.
Meyer highlighted that vaccination remains the cornerstone of the province’s disease control strategy.
“Foot and Mouth Disease presents a serious and ongoing threat to our livestock industry, food security, and rural livelihoods. Vaccination remains the cornerstone of the Western Cape’s disease control strategy, as clearly articulated in our 21-point plan.
“The Western Cape will continue to actively engage with the national Department of Agriculture to ensure the province receives its fair share of vaccines, so that we can act decisively to protect our farmers and the wider agricultural economy,” he said.
Vaccination coverage is currently highest along the West Coast, with 63% and the City of Cape Town with 56%, followed by the Cape Winelands with 35% and the Garden Route with 31%.
No vaccinations have been required in the Central Karoo and Overberg districts, where no confirmed outbreaks have been recorded.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture heard that while there are enough vaccines to manage the FMD outbreaks in the country, the Department of Agriculture is still unhappy with the progress being made to vaccinate cattle in the country.
Deputy director general: Agricultural Production, Biosecurity and Natural Resources, Dipepeneneng Serage, and chief director for Animal Production and Health, Dr Botlhe Modisane, gave the committee an update on where things currently stand with FMD in the country.
As of April 17, there were 1 502 cases in the country, with the provincial breakdown as follows:
- Eastern Cape - 104
- Free State - 414
- Gauteng - 243
- KwaZulu-Natal - 257
- Limpopo - 55
- Mpumalanga - 144
- North-West - 268
- Northern Cape - 4
- Western Cape - 13
To date, four million doses of FMD vaccines have been received (2.5 million doses from Biogenesis Bago, Argentina and 1.5 millon doses from Dollvet, Turkey).
An order for two million doses of Dollvet was expected to arrive in counrty on Monday.
In terms of compensation for farmers who have lost income, Serage said they unfortunately do not have the funds.
“The funds that we have now are dedicated towards controlling the outbreak and getting the country to normalcy. But of course, we do sympathise with farmers who have lost production as a result of these outbreaks, and unfortunately, we do not have the means at the moment,” he said.
“Are we happy with the progress? No, we are not. What is causing this delay or this somewhat sluggish process? It's because we rely on imported vaccines. Vaccine registration is a long process, and we have not had the appetite, with the private sector in the country… and unfortunately, we have to rely on the importation of vaccines.
“At the same time, our resources on the ground to be able to vaccinate quicker, we are still ramping that up, and we hope for the vaccination rate to improve.”