Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has emphasized that South Africa’s path to regaining its FMD-free status requires the total integration of the wildlife sector into national biosecurity protocols.
Acknowledging that buffalo and other wildlife species act as natural reservoirs and intermediaries for the virus, the Minister’s strategy marks a shift from isolated farm management to a comprehensive landscape-wide approach. “The wildlife sector must be fully integrated into our FMD Recovery Plan,” Steenhuisen stated, noting that the health of the R80 billion livestock industry is inextricably linked to the management of wild populations.
Appointment of Specialist Task Team Leadership
To bridge the gap between commercial agriculture and conservation, Minister Steenhuisen has appointed Dr. Gary Bauer to the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Task Team. This appointment ensures that the specific expertise of the wildlife ranching and conservation industry is represented at the highest decision-making level. The Task Team is charged with implementing a “fact-driven blueprint” that balances the economic needs of game farmers with the strict veterinary requirements of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Targeted Vaccination and Heatmap Technology
A cornerstone of the two-page directive is the use of advanced digital heatmap technology to identify high-risk “interface” zones where wildlife and livestock overlap.
Buffer Zones: The strategy prioritizes 100% vaccination coverage in dairy and feedlot sectors, with 80-90% coverage in communal and commercial areas bordering wildlife reserves.
Movement Controls: Real-time tracking will now monitor animal movements within a 10km radius of suspected outbreaks, ensuring that displaced wildlife or illegally moved game do not trigger secondary “spill-over” events in FMD-free provinces.
Local Vaccine Production and “One Health”
The Minister confirmed that South Africa has broken a 20-year hiatus by resuming local FMD vaccine production through the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). These locally produced vaccines are being formulated to match regional strains circulating in both livestock and wildlife populations. This “One Health” perspective aims to interrupt virus transmission cycles at the source, moving the country toward a ten-year goal of total FMD eradication without the long-term necessity of vaccination.
Legislative Reform and Emergency Powers
In response to the acute pressure on the national herd, the Minister is pursuing amendments to the Animal Diseases Act. These reforms will grant the state explicit emergency powers to authorize rapid “ring vaccination” and enforce stricter movement controls at the wildlife-livestock interface. Steenhuisen warned that “vaccine-free-for-alls” or unregulated private interventions pose a catastrophic risk of creating new, unmanageable virus strains that could permanently derail South Africa’s export potential.
The Minister has made it clear that the success of this roadmap depends on a unified front between state veterinarians, private landowners, and the conservation sector. Through disciplined, science-driven cooperation, South Africa aims to protect its agricultural value chain while preserving the integrity of its world-class wildlife heritage.