Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has largely left the national headlines in South Africa, but 1,501 outbreaks remained officially open at 30 September 2026, according to the Department of Agriculture's latest outbreak report, Farmers Weekly reported. The report lists 2,871 outbreaks in total, of which 1,370 have been reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
Outbreaks of the SAT1 and SAT2 strains continue to affect livestock production, particularly in the north and east, and open cases are listed in all nine provinces. The department cautions that an open outbreak does not necessarily mean the virus is still circulating: some properties may no longer be infected but stay under quarantine until the procedures to close the outbreak are complete.
The Eastern Cape has the most open outbreaks, 421, with only 12 closed and SAT1 found in every district. KwaZulu-Natal has 346 open and 30 closed; together the two provinces hold about 51% of the national total. In KwaZulu-Natal many cases are linked to a SAT2 outbreak that began in May 2021 in five neighbouring game reserves, where the department says full resolution is unlikely because buffalo can carry the virus.
The Free State has closed the most outbreaks, 634, with 163 still open, and North West has closed 329 with 143 open. Gauteng has 136 unresolved, Mpumalanga 123, Limpopo 99, the Northern Cape 39 and the Western Cape 31. The department's investigation traces how the 2021 KwaZulu-Natal virus reached East London in 2024 and Mpumalanga, Gauteng, North West and the Free State in 2025. The report was written by Hanlie du Plessis.
Photo: dr. D. Denev / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Farmers Weekly South Africa
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