The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has confirmed two cases of foot-and-mouth disease in Viljoenskroon, a town located in the Moqhaka municipality of the Free State. This emergence of the disease signals a troubling development for South African livestock farmers, particularly in light of its implications for the beef export sector, which is already facing challenges in the global market.
One of the confirmed cases has been identified on a commercial farm, while the second has affected a communal grazing area close to the border of the North West province. In response to this outbreak, the department has imposed movement restrictions on all farms within a 10-kilometre radius of the affected areas to prevent further spread of the disease. Both the infected farms and the communal grazing area are currently under quarantine, with authorities taking immediate steps to secure the health of the regional livestock.
In a proactive measure, the Department of Agriculture emphasised its commitment to vaccinating all livestock in the affected farms and communal areas, aiming to halt the disease’s spread and protect other adjacent farms. This recent outbreak follows a previous case reported last month in the Metsimaholo Municipality in Deneysville, where the source was traced back to an animal feeding operation in a neighbouring province. Such outbreaks are concerning for the agricultural community, raising questions about the efficacy of current disease control strategies.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Democratic Alliance’s Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen expressed significant concerns over the ongoing situation, claiming that South Africa is missing out on valuable beef export opportunities due to persistent foot-and-mouth disease. Steenhuisen noted that the strategies employed over the past five to eight years to control the disease have proven to be ineffective, and the economic damage is mounting. He called for a reassessment of these strategies to address the continuous threat posed by this animal disease.
Farmers across South Africa are left grappling with uncertainty as quarantine measures restrict their operations. With beef exports being a critical sector for the local economy, the implications of these outbreaks could be far-reaching, not just in terms of immediate vaccination and movement restrictions but also regarding the long-term sustainability of beef production in the region.