Foot-and-mouth is slowing: how to keep your herd healthy and your business going

Foot-and-mouth disease has reached every province of South Africa, and it is active in several neighbouring countries. But the news in October 2026 is more hopeful: new outbreaks are slowing, more than 8 million animals had been vaccinated by July, and the July 2026 rules give farmers ways to keep farming and trading. Here is where things stand, how to spot and care for sick animals, how to keep the virus out, and how to keep your business going.

First, what foot-and-mouth is

Foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD, is caused by a virus that infects animals with split hooves: cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and wild animals such as buffalo. It spreads through contact with sick animals, and on people, vehicles, equipment and feed. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) says that in a herd with no protection, nearly every animal can fall sick.

The good news: WOAH says FMD is not a public health risk, and the Red Meat Producers' Organisation said in February 2026 that the meat remains safe to eat. The Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVASA) said that month that more than 95% of sick animals recover without treatment. The danger is to the young: WOAH puts deaths at 1 to 5% of adults but 20% or more of calves, lambs and piglets, because the virus can damage the heart.

Where South Africa stands in October 2026

The Department of Agriculture's report of 30 September 2026 counts 2 871 outbreaks in all nine provinces, caused by two types of the virus, SAT1 and SAT2. Of these, 1 370 are closed and 1 501 open, which includes farms still being cleared. The spread is slowing: the count grew by 104 in August 2026 and by only 52 in September.

Vaccination is a big reason. Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp said in July 2026 that just over 8 million animals had been vaccinated by 17 July, 3.1 million of them owned by communal and developing farmers. The goal, reported by SAnews in May 2026, is 80% of the national cattle herd by the end of December 2026. More than 23 million doses had been imported by September 2026 (Business Day).

Where vaccination was thorough, it worked. Gauteng vaccinated 542 577 animals from February to August 2026, and new cases fell by 96% (African Farming, September 2026). On 1 September 2026 North West reported its first week without a new case since December 2025 (SAnews).

But vaccination is not the whole answer. The Free State had vaccinated 1.66 million cattle by late September 2026, yet found a new case at Fauresmith and warned that some owners were slow to report (Farmer's Weekly).

Our neighbours

FMD does not stop at a border fence. In 2026 it has been active in most neighbouring countries.

• Namibia. On 22 September 2026 FMD was found in the Karasburg district, the first outbreak in Namibia's main commercial farming zone in 60 years. Movement was stopped countrywide, then partly reopened (African Farming). By 6 October, 127 cattle and 50 sheep showed signs (The Namibian).
• Botswana. An April 2026 outbreak at Ramatlabama was less than 5 km from one in North West. After vaccinating, Botswana allowed some movement under permits in July, but not around Ramatlabama (African Farming; Africa Science News).
• Zimbabwe had about 316 000 cattle in quarantine in March 2026. It warned of a type O virus in Mozambique and Zambia, a type not in South Africa's current outbreaks (CITE).

Know the signs, and report the same day

WOAH lists these signs:

• Drooling, lip smacking and fever.
• Blisters and raw sores on the tongue, gums and lips, between the claws, at the top of the hoof and on the teats.
• Limping, or not wanting to walk.
• A sudden drop in milk.

In sheep and goats the signs are often mild, so watch for limping. Young animals can die suddenly.

The July 2026 control measures (Government Notice 7687) say a suspicion must be reported within the same day. Phone your state vet or animal health technician. If you cannot reach them, phone the provincial veterinary office or the Department's FMD support line, 0860 246 640. Keep the sick animals apart, move nothing off the farm, keep visitors out, and let the state vet in. Once FMD is confirmed, tell your neighbours.

The state vet places the farm under quarantine at once and must visit within 24 hours. In communal areas, if one owner's animals are infected, the whole group they mix with is quarantined. The way out is counted from "Day Zero", a date the state vet sets in writing. For vaccinated animals with no fresh signs, it is the day the last animal had its first dose. Otherwise it is the day a vet finds no fresh signs, confirmed 14 days later. When there are no fresh signs, tell the state vet: a vet should examine the animals within 5 days.

Caring for sick animals

There is no registered medicine for FMD in South Africa (RuVASA, February 2026), and WOAH says cattle usually recover in 8 to 15 days. A February 2026 Garden Route guide sets the aims of care: ease pain and fever, keep the animal eating and drinking, keep sores clean, and stop other infections.

• Soft feed and clean water. Give soft grass or soft fodder, and fresh water often.
• Rest. Keep sick animals in a camp that is neither steep nor wet, and handle them as little as you can. A South African beef and wool farmer told African Farming in January 2026 that herds that were moved or treated showed the greatest losses.
• Medicine through your vet. Pain relief, a wound gel and vitamins can help. Your vet will say how long to wait before slaughter or using the milk. Antibiotics do not kill the virus, but a vet may use them for infected sores.
• Keep up tick control. In that farmer's herd, most deaths came from redwater, a tick-borne disease, after FMD.
• Watch the young. Check calves and lambs often, and see that they still get milk.
• Boil raw milk before people drink it or calves are fed it.

Keeping the disease out

1. Vaccinate, and book the booster. Use the state campaign at your dip tank, or pay an authorised vet or veterinary assistant under the May 2026 Routine Vaccination Scheme (animals must be branded, ear-tagged and recorded). If you have the skills and cold storage, you can vaccinate your own animals. Register at fmd.nda.gov.za, tell the state vet at least 5 days ahead, and report within 14 days (Department guideline, July 2026). Boosters are generally due at six months (July 2026 measures). Follow the label and your vet.
2. Mark and record. Mark every animal with your registered brand or tattoo, and an ear tag. Under the July 2026 measures, proof of vaccination comes only from digital records: date, product, batch number and expiry. No record, no status. The red meat industry's free RMIS app records vaccinations and movements (Business Report, April 2026).
3. Buy with papers. Phone your state vet about the farm of origin. Ask the seller for identity, brand, vaccination record and vet certificate. Avoid animals whose status you cannot check.
4. Keep new animals apart for 28 days, with their own water and no nose-to-nose contact. Under a June 2025 rule (Government Notice 6319), still in force, buyers of cattle, sheep and goats promise this in writing. Ask your state vet what applies to your farm.
5. Control the gate. Keep a visitor book. Scrub dung off boots, tyres and trailers, then disinfect. WOAH lists soda ash (sodium carbonate) at 4%: about 40 g of powder per litre of water, or about 100 g of washing soda crystals, left wet for 30 minutes (Ausvet). Iodine, phenol and quaternary ammonium products are not reliable against FMD (WOAH). An infected or suspect farm must use a registered disinfectant and keep its label details.
6. Mind people, pigs and fences. People can carry the virus in the nose and throat for 24 to 48 hours (WOAH). After handling sick animals, change clothes and keep away from other livestock for 48 hours, as the July 2026 rules ask. Never feed meat scraps to pigs. Keep animals off roads and away from shared fences.

For communal farmers, protection is shared: bring every animal on dip and vaccination days, and report early. Quarantine lifts for the whole dip-tank cluster together.

Keeping your business going

The July 2026 rules leave room to keep farming and trading.

• Vaccinated, never infected. Clause 2.2 of Government Notice 7687 says vaccinated animals that were never infected or quarantined, or whose quarantine has been lifted, are "deemed disease free and may be moved and traded without restriction". You must prove adequate, up-to-date vaccination. They still trade "under normal regulations" (SAnews, June 2026), so keep your brand, identification papers and a health declaration.
• Under quarantine, you can still farm. From Day 16 after Day Zero, healthy animals may go to an FMD-designated abattoir (Parliament was told of 24 in May 2026), and from Day 42 to any abattoir. Both need the abattoir's written agreement and a red cross permit. Milk can go to a processor to be pasteurised. Most quarantines can end 42 days after Day Zero if no new signs appear. Once you qualify, the state vet must apply to lift it within 24 hours, and you must hear the outcome within 48 hours (clause 17).
• Check your province. Limpopo, for example, wants a permit, arranged by your state vet at least 5 days ahead, for animals from other provinces (Business Report, January 2026).
• Sell without crowding. Mpumalanga linked some 2026 infections to auction cattle whose status buyers had not checked. Where you can, sell from the farm, with a vet check before loading.

Standing still costs money. Meat Naturally Africa had to cancel 27 mobile auctions in communal areas from November 2025. From December 2025 to March 2026 its farmers earned R1.6 million from six direct sales, against more than R20 million those auctions would normally bring (EWN, April 2026). We found no study yet on how much more a vaccinated, recorded animal earns. But under the 2026 rules, the record is what lets a healthy animal move.

How Live Stock can help

Live Stock cannot vaccinate, test or treat animals, issue a permit or lift a quarantine. The market can help healthy, recorded animals reach a buyer without a crowded sale pen.

• Sell from your phone. The market has been open to the public since 1 October 2026. List cattle, sheep and goats free, for buyers anywhere in South Africa.
• Your records on show. A listing shows price per head, condition, the last vaccination date and your own dipping date, with photos taken on the phone's camera from every side, carrying GPS.
• People who are checked. A person checks every seller once: identity against Home Affairs through a licensed bureau, proof of where the animals are kept, and a registered brand certificate. Buyers are identity-checked before any meeting.
• Health papers, money and records. Before a meeting you attach a vet certificate dated within the last 12 months. The buyer pays into escrow with a licensed escrow provider (Live Stock never holds the money), inspects in person, and accepts or rejects. You are paid after acceptance and a 24-hour hold. Every sale issues your health declaration, a transport authorisation, a movement record and a proof of sale. These are Live Stock's records, not state permits, so you still need any permit the state vet requires.

If your farm is under quarantine or a movement standstill, do not list. Speak to your state vet first. Farmers keep 97%. The buyer pays a 7% service fee. While the market is new, a single deal is up to 3 animals or R40 000 all in.

Vaccinate, keep records, report early and buy carefully. Each step protects your herd and your neighbours, and helps your animals move and sell.