The high court in Pretoria has granted interim relief to cattle farmers, allowing them to procure and administer imported foot-and-mouth (FMD) vaccines “under strict conditions”.The case was brought by lobby groups Sakeliga, Suider-Afrika Agri Inisiatief (SAAI) and Free State Agriculture. The judgment, handed down on Monday by judge Cornelius van der Westhuizen, comes as South Africa continues to battle an FMD outbreak that has disrupted livestock movement, affected trade, and placed pressure on farmers and veterinary authorities.The court order means farmers may now participate in private vaccination under auditable conditions, while the state retains control over the vaccines it procures and how those doses are distributed.It allows livestock owners to vaccinate their animals privately, provided they notify the relevant provincial director of veterinary services or state veterinarian at least five days before vaccination, give details of the animals and location, maintain the cold chain and submit proof after vaccination. The order applies to cloven-hoofed livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.However, the ruling does not give farmers an automatic right to import or manufacture vaccines themselves. It applies only to vaccines that have been lawfully imported or lawfully manufactured in South Africa. It does not require the state to supply vaccines to private owners and does not affect existing movement controls or the obligation to report suspected FMD cases.FMD Response SA, an industry body representing more than 250 farmers and industry experts, welcomed the ruling, saying it is a critical step in accelerating vaccination efforts needed to contain the disease.“An 11-month vaccination programme is too slow to achieve the simultaneous immunity required to stop disease transmission and meet the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards for controlling FMD,” said Andrew Morphew, spokesperson for FMD Response SA.The group said vaccination needs to take place within a tight six- to eight-week window so cattle can develop simultaneous immunity and prevent the virus from spreading between herds.An 11-month vaccination programme is too slow to achieve the simultaneous immunity required to stop disease transmission and meet the World Organisation for Animal Health standards for controlling FMD.— Andrew Morphew, spokesperson for FMD Response SAFMD Response SA said the slow pace of the rollout is one of the reasons vaccinated dairy cattle in KwaZulu-Natal have become infected with the virus. It said there are credible reports that more than 90% of commercial beef farmers in KwaZulu-Natal have been unable to access state vaccines and that cattle on commercial farms in the province remain unvaccinated.“The key question now is whether lawful private importers, manufacturers and their agents will be allowed to bring vaccines into the country and make them available to farmers without unnecessary delay,” Morphew said.“The court has opened the door to private vaccination. The government and Sahpra [South African Health Products Regulatory Authority] must now ensure that lawful private vaccine channels can operate at the speed and scale this crisis requires.”The ruling follows a dispute over whether farmers and private veterinary channels should be allowed to participate in the vaccination campaign alongside the state. Sakeliga said in March that the matter concerns private sector procurement and administration of FMD vaccines, and that the applicants wanted to prevent the state from blocking lawful private vaccination efforts.Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen said the practical effect of the court matter has been “largely overtaken” by the gazetted section 10 animal health scheme, which he said already provides a lawful framework for private industry participation in the national vaccination effort. However, the judgment found that the gazetted scheme did not provide a substantive defence to the application.Steenhuisen said the government has “consistently supported a co-ordinated public-private approach to combating FMD” and millions of vaccines have already been allocated to organised industry structures, including the Milk Producers’ Organisation. Further allocations are being rolled out to feedlots, stud breeders and commercial farmers.He said the government’s objective remains to vaccinate at least 80% of the national cattle population with two doses of vaccine as quickly as possible as part of South Africa’s pathway towards achieving WOAH-recognised FMD-free-with-vaccination status.“Approximately 13.5-million FMD vaccine doses from local and international sources have been procured as part of government’s intensified response to the outbreak,” Steenhuisen said.The government remains committed to ensuring the outbreak becomes “a turning point in strengthening South Africa’s long-term biosecurity capability and defeating FMD once and for all”.The court ordered the minister of agriculture, the director-general of agriculture and director of animal health to pay the costs of the application, including mediation costs and the costs of two counsels. Proceedings seeking final relief must be instituted within 20 days of the order.The government has said its vaccination campaign is being expanded. Steenhuisen said on Sunday that the first batch of a 3.5-million-dose consignment of Biogénesis Bagó FMD vaccines has arrived from Argentina, with the remainder expected during the week. He said the consignment would take the total number of imported vaccine doses secured by South Africa to 13.5-million before the end of May.Steenhuisen said provinces have to move “with speed and urgency” to scale up vaccination efforts and protect South Africa’s national herd of about 14-million cattle. He said the campaign formed part of the department of agriculture’s strategy to achieve and maintain FMD-free-with-vaccination status while protecting rural livelihoods, food security and agricultural exports.FMD Response SA said the number of doses imported is not the only issue. The group said the main question is how many vaccines are being administered and how many remain in storage.