MBABANE (18 June 2025): A mass Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination begins tomorrow in a major effort to eliminate the virus within the South West Shiselweni. Gvernment has also ordered ‘Zero Movement’ of all livestock within the designated ‘Red Zone’ and its neighbourhood to prevent the disease spreading into the rest of the country.
Director of Veterinary Services Dr. Roland Dlamini told Today that delivery of custom-made vaccines designed to treat the specific FMD variant in Hluthi and Lavumisa is expected today (Wednesday 18 June 2025) and vaccination of all animals in the FMD Red Zone will begin immediately.
The Red Zone is the “Lock down” area confines an area between Hluthi and Lavumisa where over a thousand cattle in 13 dip tanks are confirmed or suspected to have contracted the disease.
A national team of agents from several government departments includimg the police, the army, Ministry of Agriculture and National Disaster Emergency Authority (NDMA) has deployed on a 24/7 watch around the ‘Red Zone’ to ensure that no movement of cattle goes in or out of the FMD designated zone. Checkpoints have been erected on all roads coming out of the Red Zone with disinfectant footbaths for passengers and all tyres of vehicles leaving or entering the are are sprayed with disinfectant.
“We must prevent the disease spreading out from the red line to prevent the disease escaping from Lavumisa and exploding into a national disaster that will infect other regions in Hhohho, Lubombo and Manzini. That’s why we have established a red line so that even people who step on infected areas do not spread the disease to the rest of the country on their shoes.”
The red line starts on the border with Phongola east of Hluthi and connects with Mhlosheni then follows the road to Lavumisa to Sphambanweni then cuts north of Lavumisa to the Ngwavuma river then south again to the border fence. This has been declared a guard area. Separately, veterinary officers are assessing the risk profile of several areas by tracking the migration of all cattle that left the area before 12th May and monitoring herds where they are now located to ensure that they did not transfer the disease.
The ministry of agriculture continues to warn cattle owners to prevent their herds crossing the border to graze in South Africa’s Phongola region where the disease is rife. Herdsmen are also cautioned to watch-out for any signs of FMD in their herds. FMD symptoms typically are dribbling saliva from the mouth or limping. A closer inspection will show mouth sores and lesions between the hooves.
“We want to be clear and specific. Where you see an animal and suspect it of FMD, the sooner you tell us the better, Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Sidney Simelane stated.
Zero movement ordered
Government has ordered a standstill for all animals in the FMD area: “We appeal to our people not to panic or alarmed,” cautioned the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
“We are now aware of a wave of panic among cattle owners in communities surrounding the Red Zone who are rushing to move their cattle from what they perceive to be FMD risky areas,” NDMA CEO Victor Mahlalela said. “We appeal for a stand-still for all livestock. There should be no unnecessary movement of cattle outside the Red Zone,” he said.
“This is not the time to be moving cattle around the country. Inside the Red Zone, there should be absolute zero movement,” Mahlalela said.
The red zone is a notional fence that starts from the border fence with South Africa just South-west of Sikhwebezi where the first infection was found and rings-in all the 13 cattle dipping tanks in Lavumisa and Hluthi containing the over a thousand cattle that are suspected to be already infected with the disease. Inside this Red Zone, Mahlalela called for “zero movement.”
“We wish to stress to appeal to all livestock owners not to move cattle because movement will complicate our operation. This is not the time to move livestock. No movement of livestock will allow us the time to deal properly with virus within the Red Zone.
For now, the vaccination will be in the Red Zone. We must contain the disaster within that space”.
To ensure that there is zero movement of cattle from Lavumisa, the issue of all stock removal permits have been suspended for the period of the emergency. This means that animals that are seen moving out of the area will be doing so illegally, and must be reported.
“Anyone that sees anything suspicious that could undermine the effort to eliminate the disease should immediately call the emergency response number 112 or 79000112 and report the suspicion,” said Mahlalela.
Mr. Simelane warned that anyone that violates the FMD confinement regulations will be dealt with severely. “If we find one animal taken from the Red Zone in your kraal, that animal will be shot, together with all the animals in that kraal. If there are 18 animals and the suspect is the 19th, all the other 18 will be shot because that person will have exposed the whole country to new risk.” The culprit, Mr. Simelane said, would be prosecuted and if guilty, fined E10,000 or two years in prison because “just one beast is enough to cause a national outbreak.”
“Whoever smuggles cattle out of the red zone will invite the destruction of all animals that will be found in the kraal with the FMD beast,” warned Simelane.
Economic blow
The disease has already dealt a huge blow to the economy and caused the suspension of the lucrative export trade in beef. Lavumisa is key to the national agriculture economy and a major producer of volume and quality beef cattle. Mr Simelane alluded to the severe impact of the FMD disaster: “We have companies that have already closed and many retrenchments as we speak.”
Dr. Dlamini said a FMD outbreak is a unique calamity as there is no off-the-shelf treatment available. The disease has so many variants that any outbreak requires lab test identification so that a specific vaccine for it is created from scratch. “In Southern Africa, the only FMD vaccines developer is in Botswana. We have sent the lab results for them to create a specific analgesic suitable for the Eswatini variant.
He said Ministry of agriculture emergency teams who are already in training will immediately launch the vaccination drive possibly by Thursday, aiming for a 100% vaccination all animals within the Red Zone. “Our vaccination will not be haphazard and will start from the periphery of the Red Zone so that we move from FMD clean areas to FMD dirty areas”.
After 30 days, they will apply a second doze of the vaccine followed by a 60-day observation period. Dr. Dlamini estimated that if all goes well, the disease will be fully eradicated between one and two years. A successful confinement of the disease in 2001 when FMD last hit the country allowed MoA to declare the rest of the country FMD-free which allowed beef exports to resume.
The vaccination will be financed from a E40 million emergency fund released by the Prime Minister earlier this month.
If by October, the veterinary department assesses that no new FMD cases have occured, the Ministry of Agriculture may start slowly relaxing the lockdown conditions and allow communities surrounding the Red Zone to trade in beef and animal products. Within the Red Zone, livestock owners will be allowed to take their animals to the abattoirs for slaughter where the meat will be tested for FMD before distribution.
Jm/today/18.6.2025
