Farmers had mixed emotions after the announcement of the first batch of locally produced foot-and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines in decades.
Last week, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen visited the Agricultural Research Council at Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, where council CEO Litha Magingxa handed over the first batch of locally produced FMD vaccines in more than 20 years.
“SA ceased local production in 2005 due to ageing technology and infrastructure. It is now stepping into a new era. After nearly two decades of research and modernisation, the council has produced its first 12 900 doses using modern bioreactor technology,” he said.
Steenhuisen said 12 900 doses were produced on a pi lot scale as proof of concept for the new virus strains and the production technology developed. The batch will go to Free State (2 300 doses), Eastern Cape (2 600 doses), North West (2 000 doses), Gauteng (2 000 doses), Limpopo (2 000 doses) and Mpuma langa (2 000 doses).
“From March 2026, the research council will be able to supply 20 000 doses per week of its monovalent SAT 1, SAT 2, or SAT 3 vaccine, and 200 000 monovalent doses per week from 2027.”
Why now?
TLU SA chair Bennie van Zyl asked why the department only now introduced a vaccine approved four years ago.
“We are faced with the reality of how Onderstepoort was viewed in the international arena, that it has deteriorated so much that we now have to start from the beginning again,” he said.
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A ‘disgrace’
Veterinary Network CEO Dr Danie Odendaal called it a disgrace.
“This vaccine was developed from 2010 and then in 2022 fully registered as a vaccine in SA, and also, as yesterday, introduced in 2023 as a breakthrough.
“The goal was to have a vaccine available for when FMD spreads again from the Kruger National Park, he said.
Ondetepoort then sat on the vaccine while the entire agricultural sector was exposed to the disease over the past four years.
Odendaal said if this vac cine had been manufactured at scale when it was registered, SA could have controlled the 2022 outbreak.
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