Minister leads Limpopo roll-out of FMD vaccines

The Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen and the Limpopo MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Nakedi Kekana, led the fourth nationwide mass vaccination rollout campaign against foot and mouth disease (FMD) on the ZZ2 farm at Kareebosch outside Polokwane on Monday.

- Barry Viljoen

The campaign forms part of government's efforts to contain and prevent the spread of the disease.

"This high-priority intervention follows the arrival of one million high-potency vaccine doses from Biogénesis Bagó, Argentina on February 21 and millions more FMD vaccine doses have been procured and have arrived in the country," the minister said and added that the vaccination process is strategically phased starting with mass vaccination in the highest-risk areas, thereafter, moving to lower-risk areas.

Steenhuisen commended farmers and the government departments for their cooperation and emphasised that if the national herd of 14 million head could be vaccinated, South Africa will forever be a foot-and-mouth free country.