Vaccination blitz: South Africa's 10-year plan to achieve FMD-free status

State veterinarians have warned that it could take up to a decade for the livestock industry to fully recover from the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak and regain its international disease-free status.

Officials state that the national strategy focuses primarily on containing and arresting the spread of the virus through widespread vaccinations. To effectively reduce viral circulation, the government aims to immunise at least 80% of the national herd.

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However, Gauteng’s Chief Director for Veterinary Services, Dr Wynton Robolao, said that regaining the "FMD-free without vaccination" status, a classification the country previously held will require a gradual, data-driven withdrawal of vaccines once the disease is under control.

"It's a process," says Dr Robolao. "Hence, in our strategy at the national level, we are talking about between now and the next 10 years, because we have to first contain the disease, bring it under control. Because remember, the main aim for now is to contain and arrest the disease."