Vaccines alone won’t stop foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)

Vaccinating against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) alone will not be enough to get the situation under control. Controlling the movement of animals is essential, says the state veterinarian who led the successful containment of an outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal in 2000 in just three months.

By Carien Kruger, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad

During the Camperdown FMD outbreak in 2000, the police, army and traffic authorities were involved. Without their involvement, foot-and-mouth disease could not have been brought under control within three months – and similar strict measures have led to success in other countries too, says Dr Gideon Brückner, then national director of animal health.

Brückner later served as chief director of veterinary services of the Western Cape, and as deputy director-general of the World Organisation for Animal Health (then called the OIE – now WOAH). Now retired, he speaks with conviction and the authority of long experience about what consistently works.

“With vaccination alone, you must be careful not to create false confidence – the idea that ‘we’ll just vaccinate the animals and that will solve the problem’. It doesn’t work that way. Vaccination is a tool, not the solution in itself,” he says.

“Without movement control and cooperation from all stakeholders, you can forget about bringing the disease under control.”

Also read: FMD | Stud breeders welcome seriousness about foot-and-mouth disease

Lessons from Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina

While working at the OIE, Brückner assisted Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina in containing foot-and-mouth outbreaks. Brazil and Bolivia were declared free of the disease without vaccination earlier this year, but this was the result of years of work.

“These countries were in the same situation South Africa is in now, with foot-and-mouth widespread. They started with mass vaccination, moved to being disease-free with vaccination, and eventually to disease-free without vaccination.”

This is also the path South Africa will need to follow, says Brückner, who visited these countries multiple times to study their strategies and report on them.

Movement control in these three countries was “very, very strict”, he says. The army, police, traffic authorities and farmers’ associations set up control points at provincial and municipal borders. These stations were manned 24 hours a day. The army played an especially strong role in Colombia and Argentina, particularly in high-risk areas.

“Everyone helped to enforce roadblocks. Movement control is the essential part of any foot-and-mouth containment effort.”

The same approach was used in KwaZulu-Natal in 2000. Under his leadership, all state agencies assisted with movement control. “It worked well. We brought the disease under control within three months and South Africa regained its foot-and-mouth-free status.”

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Swift, Firm Action Is Critical

Brückner says that if government does not take the correct steps within 24–48 hours after the disease is diagnosed, the battle is already lost.

“You need firm and rapid action. What you lose now, you will never catch up later.

“You must constantly stay ahead of the disease, not run after it. Unfortunately, South Africa is now at the stage where it is chasing the disease – we just never get ahead.”

South Africa enjoyed “free of foot-and-mouth without vaccination” status for many years. According to Brückner, the country made the mistake in 2019, during the Limpopo outbreak, of failing to act decisively and contain it. “From there, the disease gradually spread to seven provinces. Internationally, we are still considered infected.”

He believes South Africa should already in 2019 have started large-scale vaccination, combined with movement control, and then worked gradually toward restoring its status – which was his recommendation at the time.

“If you can’t control the risk – which is currently the case – you must continue vaccinating until the risk is under control. “But without strict control of the movement of infected animals, vaccination won’t help. Vaccines don’t give a 100% guarantee animals won’t get sick; they simply keep the virus load low.

“If movement control isn’t enforced, you have a major problem. It is the essential core of containing a disease like foot-and-mouth. Movement must be tightly restricted to prevent spread, but at the moment, movement in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal is keeping the outbreaks going.”

Also read: FMD | Stud breeders welcome seriousness about foot-and-mouth disease

A Long Road Back to Disease-Free Status

Brückner says it took Brazil nine years to move from a policy of vaccination and progressive zoning to ultimately becoming free of the disease without vaccination.

“We must understand that this will take several years for us as well. You need a very clear plan, and it must be backed by a firm commitment to follow the path – with vaccination and with very strict movement control.”

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