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An official vaccinates cattle during a foot and mouth disease mass vaccination rollout campaign at Colbourne Dairy Farm in Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal, on 27 February 2026.
The KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture Department has started rolling out the mass vaccination of cattle against foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the Harry Gwala District Municipality this week.
Close to 55 000 cattle have been vaccinated in the Ugu District.
Agriculture department spokesperson Vusi Khumalo says they are targeting 170 000 communal cattle in the Harry Gwala District.
Appointed private veterinarians will also vaccinate cattle on commercial beef and dairy farms in the area.
Vaccination teams are visiting the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality near Creighton and the Johannes Phumani Phungula Municipality near Ixopo this week.
Some communal farmers from Highflats say they are happy about the arrival of the vaccine.
“We are pleased to have finally received the vaccine. Previously we had a problem of cattle found dead in the fields, we couldn’t be assisted. We are grateful to witness the help arriving today. If the vaccine we are getting is really going to help us, then we are happy and grateful to the department,” says one farmer.
Another farmer says: “Firstly we would like to thank the provincial government for acting swiftly in addressing the food and mouth disease. We were badly affected as this community, but we tried other ways to prevent more loss of cattle. We were really affected because we could not sell livestock to make profit, especially in rural areas. The arrival of the vaccine will help us with the cattle and restoring the rural economy because most people survive on livestock.”
