Foot and mouth disease outbreaks rise despite mass vaccination drive

The number of foot and mouth disease outbreaks continues to rise despite the vaccination campaign that has now seen more than 1.7 million animals vaccinated. 

The Department of Agriculture says the surge is owing to improved surveillance and previously unreported cases. 

However, Parliamentarians are concerned about the pace of vaccine imports, fearing that soon the country will run out of stock while new imports are awaited. 

Providing its weekly update to Parliament’s portfolio committee today, the Department of Agriculture reported new outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the North West, prompting additional vaccines to be dispatched to these provinces. 

The current number of outbreaks stands at 1223, with the Free State and Gauteng most affected. 

With around 763 000 doses of vaccine left in stock, Deputy Director General Bothle Modisane says vaccines are running low in some of the provinces owing to new outbreaks and as the vaccination drive ramps up. 

Modisane says the stock figure could also be impacted by private vets not yet having all provided reports on the vaccines they’ve administered. 

"We believe that there could be more animals that have been vaccinated, adding to the numbers of private practitioners and then much fewer doses of vaccine are actually left."

The department on Tuesday reported that after not producing vaccines for years, the Agricultural Research Council is now due to deliver its first 20 000 doses, with another 1.5 million doses awaited from Argentina and a further two million doses from Turkey.