Farmer Igsahn Felix sighs as he points to a calf lying unconscious in a lush field in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. “He's not going to make it,” he said.
Home to more than two head of cattle per capita, the province is the center of South Africa's livestock industry.
But panic has spread across its endless expanses since the outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease, which was declared a national emergency in February.
The government launched a 10-year campaign in January to vaccinate about 20 million cattle against the highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral infection.
But farmers like Felix, who lives near the city of Humansdorp, accused the government of letting the crisis escalate until it went too far.
Nearly 1,000 outbreaks have been reported in South Africa, affecting all nine provinces. The disease has also been reported in neighboring Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe in recent months.
Along a dirt road near Felix's farm, a large signpost bore an ominous warning: “Foot and Mouth Disease Control Zone.”
A chemical solution had to be sprayed on every passing vehicle to prevent the spread of the virus, which can persist in cow dung for up to six months.
Of the 245 animals at the farmers' cooperative of which Felix is a member, 128 fell ill and 14 did not survive.
Foot-and-mouth causes fever and ulcers around the hoofs and in the mouth that prevent animals from eating, as seen in emaciated survivors.
For several weeks the area about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the city of Gqebarha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, has been under a quarantine banning any sale or slaughter of meat.
– high prices –
Felix's group of 22 subsistence farmers earns about 540,000 rand (more than $32,000) in a typical year. They have already lost 180,000 Rand due to foot-and-mouth damage.
“If we had been vaccinated sooner, the disease wouldn't be here and we wouldn't have lost so much money,” Felix told AFP.
Adding to the cost was the expensive feed that farmers had to purchase while their herds were unable to graze in open fields.
Rancher Don Kaiser, who has about 60 cows, said that barring state-sponsored vaccination, farmers have to bear the financial burden of the outbreak.
“Sanitation also has a cost,” he said. “I'm sure the government can do more. Things need to improve a bit.”
The outbreak has led to a ban on South African beef in Zambia and major importer China.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen cited the same reason in February when he announced he would not seek re-election as leader of the second-largest party, the center-right Democratic Alliance (DA).
“My next chapter will be to eliminate this devastating disease from our shores once and for all,” said Steenhuisen, whose handling of the crisis has been sharply criticized.
The outbreak has put Steenhuisen – and his party, which enjoys significant support from farmers – in a “vulnerable position” ahead of local government elections later this year, said political analyst Susan Booysen.
“He may even lose his cabinet status,” he said.
– Vaccination campaign –
South Africa lost its status as a foot-and-mouth-free country in 2019, with the outbreak spreading across the country by 2021.
It finally received 2.5 million imported vaccine doses in late February for variants of the virus currently spreading.
“This is going to be our test because this vaccine has never been used before in this country,” said veterinarian Anthony Davis, a member of a dedicated government vaccination task force.
Humansdorp had already suffered heavy losses during the last foot-and-mouth crisis in 2024, which cost between five to seven million rand (about $300,000 to $420,000) for every 1,000 dairy cows, said Rufus Dreyer, one of the severely affected farmers.
The blow comes as farmers in the Eastern Cape recover from months of severe drought.
There are fears the virus will spread to the country's third-largest dairy, Woodlands Dairy, also based in Humansdorp.
The dairy employs more than 1,000 people and the economic impact of the outbreak will be “huge”, warned Deputy Mayor Timothy Jantjes.
With the virus easily spread even by wind, the Eastern Cape – which has four million more cattle than any other province – was holding its breath.
CLV/JCB/BR/SBK