This week, check who and what can enter your dairy, remind staff how to spot foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and make sure your local state veterinarian’s contact details are easy to find. The Department of Agriculture’s report recorded 2,871 individual FMD outbreaks nationally as at 30 September 2026: 1,501 remained open and 1,370 were closed. An open outbreak does not necessarily mean the virus is still circulating; quarantine may continue until formal closure procedures are complete. Treat movement restrictions as binding and confirm your farm’s position with veterinary authorities rather than relying on messages or assumptions.
Make the farm boundary work harder
FMD spreads through infected animals and their secretions, and can also travel on contaminated vehicles, tools, clothing, footwear and ropes. Contaminated buildings, feed or water, and infected animal products are further routes described in dairy guidance. Review the practical controls at the gate: record visitors and vehicles, limit unnecessary access, and clean equipment that moves between animal areas. Ask staff and contractors to avoid moving directly from other livestock premises into the herd without following the farm’s hygiene protocol.
Biosecurity is both prevention and containment: keep disease out where possible, and limit spread if infection is suspected. Avoid introducing animals or moving your own herd between farms unless movement is authorised and necessary; isolate new arrivals and use veterinary advice on testing and vaccination plans. Do not gather or transport cloven-hoofed animals contrary to current official restrictions. The rules and area status can change, so check the Department of Agriculture or your state veterinarian for current instructions.
Brief the team on signs and the reporting route
Ask milkers and stock handlers to report animals that are depressed, reluctant to eat, lame, or showing mouth sores or blister-like lesions around the mouth, feet or teats. Fever and blister-like sores are characteristic warning signs, while lameness and reduced feed intake can quickly disrupt milking and production. Do not wait for several cases to appear before acting.
If FMD is suspected, immediately contact the local state veterinarian and follow instructions on isolation, movement and sampling. Do not move potentially affected animals, milk or equipment off the premises. FMD can spread through unpasteurised milk and contaminated milk droplets; the reference material notes that pasteurised milk is safe and cannot spread the disease. Keep staff focused on safe, controlled handling and avoid informal transfers of raw milk from suspect animals.
Treat quarantine as a formal status, not a guess
The Department’s latest figures underline why a farm needs clear records and official communication. A case listed as open is not necessarily evidence of active viral circulation, but it may remain under quarantine while testing and formal procedures are completed. The same principle appeared in earlier South African outbreak guidance: restrictions should not be assumed lifted before investigations are complete and authorities confirm the position. Keep copies of notices, movement permissions and veterinary instructions, and make sure everyone responsible for animal movements knows what applies.
FMD is not only a clinical issue. It can reduce milk output when affected cows struggle to eat or cannot be milked, and it disrupts trade in animals and animal products. South Africa’s livestock industries have faced repeated disease pressures, making stronger surveillance and farm biosecurity central to protecting productivity.
Account for wildlife interfaces without jumping to conclusions
SAT1 and SAT2 outbreaks continued to affect livestock, particularly in northern and eastern South Africa. SANParks confirmed FMD infection in kudu at Addo, but said this did not establish how the virus arrived or the direction of transmission; the source and any link to other outbreaks remained under investigation. Do not infer a transmission route from the finding. For farms near wildlife interfaces, reduce uncontrolled contact between livestock and wildlife where practicable, and ask a veterinarian for locally appropriate movement and biosecurity advice. South African guidance recognises that wildlife in some designated infected zones can carry FMD virus, with control areas and movement measures applying in specified regions.
A short action list for the next seven days
Walk the perimeter and access points; check visitor and vehicle procedures; refresh the staff briefing on signs and reporting; confirm the state veterinarian’s contact details; and review the farm’s movement records and current restrictions. If your farm is under quarantine, comply until the competent authority formally changes that status. A written, farm-specific biosecurity plan helps turn general awareness into repeatable practice, including controls for animal introductions, wildlife contact, sanitation and immunisation.
Key points
- Check current movement rules and your farm’s status with the Department of Agriculture or local state veterinarian; do not assume an open outbreak means active virus or that quarantine has ended.
- Brief staff to report depression, mouth sores, lameness or reluctance to eat immediately, and contact the state veterinarian if FMD is suspected.
- Tighten visitor, vehicle and equipment hygiene; restrict unnecessary livestock movement and avoid uncontrolled livestock contact with wildlife.
- Keep potentially affected animals, raw milk and equipment from moving off-farm, and follow official instructions.