Agriculture minister john steenhuisen announced that south africa has procured 13.5 million doses of foot and mouth disease vaccines this year with millions more on the way. Nearly 4.4 million animals have been vaccinated as of may 28 as part of the largest such programme in the country’s history. The effort targets 80 percent of the national cattle herd of 14 million to build herd immunity.
Steenhuisen said on monday that the vaccination programme is being implemented at a scale never before seen in south africa. As of the end of may the country had spent r494 million on vaccine procurement and deployment. KwaZulu natal leads with more than 1.1 million animals vaccinated followed by the eastern cape with over 720000 and mpumalanga with 430000.
The minister noted that 3.5 million doses of biogenesis bago vaccine have arrived while the south african health products regulatory authority has approved the import of 14 million doses of dollvet vaccine. The first four million of those are expected this month to support required booster shots. South africa continues to export red meat to jordan the uae kuwait and hong kong under risk management measures.
Steenhuisen emphasised coordination with provinces industry and trading partners to maintain market access. The government has also backed a regional coordination framework with sadc countries for better biosecurity and outbreak control.