KAMPALA – The government has announced the launch of an unprecedented mass vaccination campaign targeting about 45.5 million head of livestock nationwide against the threat of foot-and-mouth disease.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The development was confirmed by the State Minister for Animal Industry, Bright Rwamirama, on June 14, 2026, while addressing the media at the Uganda Media Centre about ongoing efforts to combat the disease and measures to protect livestock farmers.
The ambitious nationwide exercise, set to run from July through August 2026, aims to immunize an estimated 45.5 million animals against the highly contagious and economically devastating foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The initiative marks the rollout of a new compulsory biannual vaccination programme requiring all livestock farmers to vaccinate susceptible animals, including cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs, every six months across all districts of the country.
Minister Rwamirama revealed that the campaign targets Uganda’s estimated 45.5 million susceptible animals, including 16.5 million cattle, 17.4 million goats, 4.4 million sheep, and about eight million pigs.
He added that under a cost-sharing arrangement, farmers will contribute sh8,000 per dose for cattle and pigs and sh4,000 per dose for goats and sheep, while the government fully covers vaccine procurement, distribution, transportation, supervision, and disease surveillance.
“This campaign will cover 45.5 million animals across Uganda, including cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs. Farmers will pay sh8,000 for each dose for cattle and pigs, and sh4,000 for goats and sheep. The government will pay for all vaccine supplies, delivery, transport, oversight, and disease monitoring,” Minister Rwamirama confirmed.
The Minister added that the government has secured 53.6 million doses of a high-potency quadrivalent vaccine and has heavily invested in cold chain infrastructure across the country.
The Ministry of Agriculture has expanded vaccine storage facilities at Entebbe, established 53 solar-powered district vaccine storage centres, and plans 40 additional facilities, while also strengthening refrigerated transport systems to maintain vaccine efficacy.
Minister Rwamirama said the disease disrupts trade through quarantines and restrictions, stressing that controlling it is critical for sustaining Uganda’s export growth, with dairy earnings reaching $385 million in 2025 and hides and skins generating $12.9 million.
“Foot-and-mouth disease remains one of the primary threats to progress because outbreaks often result in quarantine, trade disruption, reduced productivity, and restricted access to export markets,” the Minister warned.
As of June 12, over 20,000 farmers had been registered under the national vaccination system, with approximately 3.5 million animals already enrolled across major livestock-producing districts such as Nakaseke, Kiruhura, Mbarara, and Isingiro.
Dr. Jolly Kabirizi, a dairy farmer and member of DAFAN, noted that when animals get sick, farmers lose milk, meat, and sometimes entire animals, making the sh8,000 vaccination fee a far better option.
Henry Sight Lugoloboi, chairman of the Uganda Best Farmers Coalition, added that spending sh8,000 to protect a cow worth sh2 million to sh5 million is a small price to pay, while also calling for stricter enforcement to ensure full compliance.
The government aims to achieve at least 80% vaccination coverage during every cycle, a threshold experts consider necessary for effective herd immunity and the ultimate elimination of FMD from the country.
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