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In a recent podcast session hosted by PIC AFRICA, Marguerite Schwarzer (Marketing Manager and part of the Technical Services team of PIC Africa) interviewed Dr. Marlene Louw CEO of SAPPO (South African Pork Producers Organization). The interviewed was centered on discussions about the current state of the recent outbreaks of Foot and mouth disease (FMD) and African swine fever (ASF), Vaccines, and the impact of the outbreaks on the consumers.
Dr Marlene said that the first FMD outbreak happened in November 2025 and since then, the South African industry have experienced rapid escalation of farms contacting FMD especially farms that are in close proximity to dairy or cattle herds. She confirmed that 15 commercial piggeries have currently contacted FMD and the sow counts for the affected piggeries are over 7,000 sows. She stated that 5 commercial piggeries have contacted ASF in the past 3 months with more severe economic impact of culled pigs that is worth over 20 million rands and tagged it "a huge blow for the industry ". She confirmed that the farms that have contacted FMD are not completely eradicated and the economic impact are lesser than cases of ASF.
She mentioned that ASF just like FMD is a controllable and notifiable disease and it is something that both the state and the producers should manage collaboratively. Sappo is currently supporting the affected farms with culling processes, veterinary and protocol drafting process, and onsite assistance to manage the situation.
Farms that contracted FMD must undergo a quarantine period. Thereafter controlled slaughter processes follow and after a certain period of time, the farm can continue with normal processes. She also mentioned that the losses in the FMD farms differ depending on the viral strains.
She stated that Sappo is currently busy gathering scientific evidences and commercial research projects to shorten the timelines especially of control slaughter mechanisms to reduce the impacts on producers when there's an outbreak. She also emphasized that the first thing that a newly affected farm must do is to notify their consulting veterinarian and state veterinarians after which the farm will be placed on quarantine and a serological lab test will be performed to confirm the disease. She recommended that affected farms should follow a separation protocol on their farms (separation of workers, feed, equipment e.t.c).
She predicted that the current outbreaks might affect the price of pork on the part of the consumers until the end of the year and also confirmed that Sappo is currently working with the ministry of Agriculture by providing grass root information about the current state of the swine industry through the newly established industry coordination committee. She confirmed that this initiative provides the platform to collaboratively work with other industries within the south African livestock sector to mitigate the current disease challenges of the South African pig industry.
