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Cows seen at a farm
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen is in Argentina to secure a continued supply of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccinations and will travel to Brazil to secure agriculture import deals. Biogenesis Bago, the vaccine manufacturer in Argentina, has been supplying South Africa with millions of doses of vaccines since earlier this year, amid the FMD outbreak.
Steenhuisen says he also met with the biosecurity agency in Argentina to study how they’ve been able to control FMD in the country post vaccination, which involves continuous testing towards FMD-free status.
Great news for Gauteng farmers & food security: Government is covering the FULL cost of FMD vaccines – no cost to farmers! 💉🐄
Minister John Steenhuisen confirmed: Vaccines from Argentina (1m doses) & Türkiye (1.5m doses) arriving, rollout underway – hundreds of thousands… pic.twitter.com/n8QunkCPgY
— Democratic Alliance Gauteng Legislature (@DA_GPL) March 6, 2026
Steenhuisen says there’s also efforts aimed at signing protocols for agricultural imports in Brazil.
“Brazil and Argentina adopted a regional approach to beating foot-and-mouth disease. They were also pioneers of the vaccination process that we’re following in South Africa. The purpose is clear, to secure the supply of vaccines,” he says.
“On Tuesday, we signed a cooperation agreement with Biogénesis Bagó, which guarantees supply. This is important because there have been outbreaks in parts of the world, including Greece, Turkey, China and the Middle East. When demand for vaccines is high, you don’t want to be without supply,” he says.
There have been FMD outbreaks reported in Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The minister stressed that surveillance and movement controls will be critical to monitor any potential spread of the disease.
“We want to continuously monitor any strain changes and that will require a surveillance system. That’s why the ASA and (Onderstepoort Biological Products) OBP are here to engage with National Agri-Food Health and Quality Service of Argentina (SENASA), Argentina’s biosecurity agency, to assess the surveillance measures in place to detect new strains, monitor outbreaks, and differentiate between vaccinated animals that carry antibodies and potential new infections. This is the kind of expertise we are looking forward to gaining through technical cooperation with Biogénesis Bagó and the Argentinian authorities,” adds Steenhuisen.
The department aims to vaccinate 14 million cattle of the national herd as part of its 10-year eradication strategy to achieve FMD-Free Status.
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