Clover SA, Milk Producers’ Organisation partner to drive FMD vaccine distribution

SOUTH AFRICA – Clover South Africa has partnered with Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO) and Standard Bank Group, securing a truck to assist in the distribution of FMD vaccines.

This initiative builds on Clover and Standard Bank’s earlier commitment to strengthen the national vaccination rollout with a dedicated refrigerated vehicle for the next 12 months.

By maintaining cold-chain integrity, the vehicle ensures vaccines remain effective and can reach remote and high-risk areas quickly.

“Together, we are making a meaningful difference where it matters most. Stopping Foot and Mouth Disease, One Farm at a Time,” Milk Producers’ Organisation stated.

The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak that has affected South Africa since 2021 continues to spread in some parts of the country despite government control efforts.

KwaZulu-Natal province has been most heavily affected, with repeated new detections, including in late February 2025.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province has been battling outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease since 2021.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has not been able to resolve most cases in KZN province due to challenges with transmission from wild buffalo populations, despite deploying a wide range of control measures, including vaccination, depopulation, and movement restrictions.

In February 2025, new cases of FMD were reported in cattle dip tanks in the Mtubatuba, Vryheid, and Newcastle areas in the KZN province.

The Eastern Cape province has also faced unresolved FMD cases since April 2024, but in other parts of the country, DALRRD has been more successful at containing and resolving isolated outbreaks.

The current series of outbreaks began when DALRRD announced FMD detections in a communal area in cattle within Mtubatuba in the UMkhanyakude District of KZN in May 2021.

The impacted area was part of South Africa’s previous FMD-free zone before the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) suspended the internationally recognised status in 2019.

Clover SA has raised concerns about the state’s management of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control measures, asserting that current practices are inconsistent, non-standardised, and fall short of international standards, significantly harming South Africa’s dairy industry.

In a statement, Johann Vorster, Clover’s CEO, emphasised the critical need for coherent FMD eradication strategies across provinces, noting that the inconsistent application of export permits and veterinary attestations is creating major roadblocks for local dairy producers.

He said, “FMD is a national disaster which requires strong eradication measures. However, these are being wrongly conflated with dairy processing standards. This is shutting down exports of products that are scientifically safe for human consumption.”

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