Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has approved new national Foot-and-Mouth (FMD) control measures aimed at providing farmers, veterinarians and authorities with clear, practical and science-based framework to manage outbreaks while reducing unnecessary economic losses.

These measures will replace the previous guidelines issued under Section 9 of the Animal Diseases Act, including the 2018 FMD Contingency plan, amendments and related protocols.

Steenhuisen’s party, the DA, has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove him as minister, but he remains so until Ramaphosa announces an official cabinet reshuffle.

Practical pathways

FMD remains one of the most economically devastating animal diseases that face livestock producers.

The impact of an outbreak is lasting and disrupts production, restricts market access, threatens jobs and places immense financial pressure on farming families and rural communities.

Steenhuisen noted that South Africa’s livestock producers need certainty.

“They need clear rules, sound science, and practical pathways that allow them to manage outbreaks without unnecessarily jeopardising their livelihoods,” he added.

New measures

According to the Department of Agriculture, the new measures aim to strike a balance between protecting animal health and ensuring that farming businesses can continue to operate safely, wherever scientific evidence allows.

These measures importantly clarify that animals that have already been vaccinated but have never been infected and have not been subject to quarantine remain healthy and may continue to be traded and moved in accordance with normal requirements.

The Objective

Steenhuisen noted that one of the most significant advances in the new framework is the introduction of clearer pathways for trade to continue during quarantine periods.

“The objective is simple: protect animal health and stop the disease spreading, while ensuring that farmers can continue operating safely wherever possible,” he said.

Livestock producers are also allowed to resume certain activities once the risk of disease transmission has been adequately managed, rather than imposing blanket restrictions that unnecessarily prolong economic hardship.

Risk period and waste

According to Steenhuisen, advances in scientific understanding of the FMD virus have shown that certain materials do not pose a risk for as long as previously believed.

“As a result, fewer animal products need to be destroyed, reducing financial losses for producers while maintaining the highest standards of food safety and disease control.”

He said that feed, fodder, and manure will similarly be managed according to scientifically established risk periods rather than blanket disposal requirements.

Another major reform is the move away from the historic assumption that entire herds must be removed before quarantine can be lifted.

“Under the new framework, producers will have several pathways available to achieve disease recovery and lift quarantine restrictions,” Steenhuisen said.

Flexibility

Farms may remove animals, restock with vaccinated animals or restock with animals from FMD-free sources, depending on the circumstances.

The department stated that these options provide significantly greater flexibility and minimise the financial devastation that can result from unnecessary whole-herd depopulation.

“For many farmers, particularly those operating under difficult financial conditions, the prospect of losing an entire herd can be devastating,” Steenhuisen said.

“These measures introduce practical alternatives that are scientifically sound and economically realistic,” he noted.

Provisions

Steenhuisen said that for the first time, control measures also provide specific provisions for communal and semi-rural livestock systems.

After becoming aware that traditional outbreak management approaches have often been designed around commercial farming operations, and noting that communal, semi-rural cattle populations present unique management challenges due to differing movement patterns.

“This is an important step forward because our disease control framework must work for all livestock owners, not only for commercial farming operations,” Steenhuisen added.

Disease management improvements

In an effort to make disease management more efficient and proportionate, well-fenced farms may now manage outbreaks within affected portions of a property, rather than automatically subjecting entire operations to full quarantine.

Larger properties with clearly separated production units will benefit from more risk-based movement controls.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the veterinary procedures for declaring herds clinically clear have been streamlined and clarified, as farmers seeking authorisation to move products will gain from defined response timelines and escalation mechanisms where decisions are delayed.

Precautions

Precautionary controls have been extended to situations where FMD is suspected, not only to those where infection has already been confirmed, as the updated measures aim to strengthen biosecurity requirements by focusing on the activities and materials that pose the greatest risk of transmission.

Steenhuisen said the measures reflect the growing partnership between government, veterinary experts, and industry in the national campaign against FMD.

“These measures are the product of extensive collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, the Ministerial Task Team, the FMD Industry Coordination Council and veterinary experts from across the sector,” Steenhuisen emphasised

He concluded that the department will continue to review the measures as new scientific evidence emerges and will conduct a formal review after 12 months of implementation.