27 Apr 2026

Strategic interventions in the fight against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) have yielded positive results after government, farmers and the community waged war against the transboundary viral disease in the veterinary disease control zones 6B and 3C and Zone 11.

Botswana has had three FMD outbreaks this year that saw robust strategies being adopted to manage the situation.

Currently, all is under control at Zones 6B and 3C following indefinite vaccination.

“We have done vaccination and we continue to vaccinate and continuously monitor the situation. We are no longer seeing emerging cases of FMD which is a positive development,” Department of Veterinary Services acting director, Dr Kobedi Segale, stated during the FMD Pitso gathering in Lobatse.

This achievement, he noted came after cattle movement restrictions were imposed, emergency vaccinations were administered at Zone 6B and 3C adding that they continued to vaccinate all livestock in the two zones. In addition, he said an agreement was reached between Botswana and Zimbabwe where the latter country donated vaccines to neighboring Zimbabwe which shall begin FMD vaccination.

With regards to FMD management Zone 11, he said, all disease control measures had been implemented, animal tracing was being carried out, surveillance was ongoing and was anticipated to complete beginning May. So far, 20 000 cattle have been vaccinated and the process is ongoing, clinical inspections in farms is ongoing, and blockades and disinfection points are in place, Dr Kobedi said.

He highlighted that FMD disease awareness was being carried out as Zone 11 was one of the areas where farmers had never experienced FMD outbreak in their lifetime and therefore needed a lot of awareness as the zone was traditionally a green Zone for five decades.

Furthermore, Dr Segale said, there were active FMD outbreak registered in different crushes adding that cattle vaccination continued. He expressed a concern at the lack of reporting of suspected cases by farmers as veterinary officers noticed cattle with FMD symptoms during surveillance. He thus encouraged farmers to report any suspected cases as soon as possible, to avoid the virus from spreading further.

So far he said their scientific findings reflected that Botswana had the FMD virus serotype SAT1 which was common in most Southern African countries with outbreaks, hence called for comprehensive regional FMD response to be able to combat FMD.

Dr Segale explained that one of the major setbacks was that humans vandalised the veterinary fences meant to save them against animal disease pandemics. He stated that their findings reflected that the rate of fence damage by wildlife was less compared to human activities.

This defeated veterinary efforts especially during times when movement of cattle was restricted to control disease outbreaks.

Ministry of Lands and Agriculture deputy permanent secretary for livestock, Dr Kefentse Motshegwa, said the country put strategies in place to suppress the virus. The strategy he said shall heavily rely on empirical information to guide policy decisions. He highlighted that Botswana had a sound Economic Partnership Agreement with European Union where Botswana beef had quota free access as such it shall continue to uphold the agreement and continue to adhere to world standards in the FMD fight.

“There are laws that we must align with if we are to continue to become a meaningful international player in the beef sector,” he said, adding that FMD was an economic disease as does not kill animals but it aborted trade, thus causing poverty.

Dr Motshegwa emphasised that fighting to regain the premium EU market share was critical because EU market presented predictability and transparency unlike any other. “We have an Economic Partnership Agreement with EU. We are one of the few countries enjoying duty free access to the EU Market. It is a very important market to Botswana that is why we strive to comply with EU standards. It comes with a lot of sacrifice, stringent measures, quality assurance and expenses but it is worth it,” he said. ends