The controversy surrounding the Agricultural Research Council (ARC)’s renewed production of a local foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine took a turn on Tuesday when it became known that Dr Danie Odendaal’s membership of the ministerial task team on animal disease prevention and control had been terminated with immediate effect. Odendaal is the director of the Veterinary Network.
By Jasper Raats, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
In a letter signed by John Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture, Odendaal is informed that his membership is being terminated because, according to the Department of Agriculture, he has not signed a required impartiality and confidentiality declaration. The letter states that all members of the task force are obliged to sign this declaration to prevent conflicts of interest and actions that could undermine the credibility of the task team.
The development comes shortly after Odendaal sharply criticised the ARC’s launch of the first locally produced foot-and-mouth disease vaccine in 21 years. Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen received the first 12 900 doses of the multivalent FMD vaccine at Onderstepoort on Friday (9 February). According to the ARC, the vaccine has already been allocated to several hotspot areas, including Humansdorp, where severe outbreaks have occurred.
WATCH | SA’s own FMD vaccines – we were there!
At the same time, the site was identified where a new vaccine production facility is planned, which could ultimately manufacture up to 20 million doses per year.
Dr Litha Magingxa, president and CEO of the ARC, described the moment as historic and said it demonstrates what is possible when stakeholders work together to make South Africa free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) again. The vaccine has been registered as a veterinary remedy in terms of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947).
‘A National Disgrace’
Before his dismissal as a member of the task team, Odendaal, described the launch as “a national disgrace” and said the vaccine is by no means new. According to him, research on it has been conducted at Onderstepoort since 2010, it was developed with taxpayers’ money, and it was fully registered in 2022.
He argues that the state and the ARC failed to have sufficient quantities of the vaccine manufactured in time, meaning that South Africa did not have enough doses to combat outbreaks from 2022 onwards when it was still possible to do so. According to Odendaal, about 14 million doses are required every six months to regain control of the disease, and the current shipment of about 12 000 doses is merely symbolic given the scale of the crisis.
He accuses the state of incompetence and delays, which, he says, have led to the worst animal health and welfare disaster in decades, with billions of rand in losses for farmers and immeasurable suffering for animals.
Also read: FMD | ‘It’s here. We’re doing what we can to delay its spread’ – Mayor Pappas
Why the ARC, and Not OBP?
Official ARC tender documents for the construction of the new facility shed more light on why it is the ARC’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute producing the vaccine and not Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP). According to the ARC, the research institute has a statutory mandate to develop vaccines against FMD and tick-borne diseases, and to supply them to the Department of Agriculture, where such production must take place in biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) facilities.
The same document makes it clear that the current manufacturing process is only a temporary measure. The ARC’s existing factory at Onderstepoort is old and does not fully comply with modern good manufacturing practice standards, but it is being used because it is the only available infrastructure capable of handling virus proliferation under strict biosecurity conditions.
The ARC Explains Delays
Dr Faith Peta, senior researcher at the ARC’s Transboundary Animal Diseases campus at Onderstepoort, says the last time vaccine doses were dispatched from the site was in 2005. The facility itself dates back to 1908, and according to her, the outdated technology and infrastructure were simply not capable of producing vaccine volumes and standards required by the country.
The ARC first had to identify new virus serotypes, adapt them for vaccine production, and then proceed through a strict and highly regulated process of efficacy testing and registration, Peta says. She emphasises that biological products worldwide must meet stringent requirements because animals, people and viruses move across borders, and South Africa’s vaccine must ultimately be internationally acceptable.
“We did not want to take shortcuts. The aim was to develop a world-class product that reflects South Africa’s scientific capability and self-reliance,” she says.
Also read: FMD | So close to solutions, so far from action
Production Capacity Remains a Bottleneck
With regard to sustainable supply, the ARC itself acknowledges that current production capacity is very limited. According to Peta and the ARC’s own tender documents, the vaccine is currently being produced in an outdated facility not designed for large-scale manufacturing. The bioreactor used to produce the first shipment is insufficient to deliver the volumes needed to combat the disease countrywide.
The ARC plans to produce about 20 000 doses per week by the end of March, and hopes to increase this to about 200 000 doses per week early next year, all within the constraints of the existing facility. The vaccine reportedly only needs to be administered once a year, in contrast to imported vaccines that must be administered twice a year.
Also read: FMD | What to do while we wait for vaccines
Long-Term Plan
The long-term plan, as set out in the ARC’s tender for new vaccine production infrastructure, is to build a modern facility at Onderstepoort within the next five years. This new plant will ultimately have the capacity to produce up to 20 million doses per year and make South Africa less dependent on imported vaccines.
Until such a facility becomes a reality, the current production remains an emergency measure.
Responding to allegations that this self-sufficiency could have been achieved years ago – when earlier intervention might have limited the extent of the current FMD crisis – Steenhuisen said at the handover of the first shipment that nothing can now be done about the past, but that he is committed to doing everything possible to address the mistakes of the past and to tackle the crisis head-on.
Also read:
FMD | ‘Right, John… Let’s get to work’
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FMD | First vaccine administered in Humansdorp this week
