Namibia battles cattle disease outbreak as EU suspends several meat imports

“We had to close the market for several days. It was just before the weekend and month’s end. That’s when we need the money the most,” says Francisco, a vendor at Single Quarter, Windhoek’s largest open meat market.

He pours vinegar and cooking oil into a tomato and onion salsa, a traditional accompaniment to kapana, a popular grilled-meat street food. Around him, many stalls and grilling stations sit empty. Instead of the crowds that typically fill the market during business hours, only a handful of customers move between the stalls.
Recent closures and concerns about meat supplies have disrupted business.

“Our business is slow. We are struggling to buy meat, but without it, we cannot survive,” says another kapana vendor, who asked to remain anonymous. “This is our livelihood. The meat is much more expensive now, so we are making less money altogether. If this continues for three months, it is going to be very bad for us.”

In Katutura, Windhoek’s largest township, uncertainty over beef supplies is adding to residents’ financial concerns.

“If we don’t eat meat, what are we going to eat? We are Namibians,” one resident says, describing meat as a staple of the local diet. Another worries about rising prices and the wider consequences for Namibia, where livestock exports are an important part of the economy.

At a supermarket in the Okuryangava suburb, the butchery has already run out of some premium beef products. Store manager Enrico De Azevedo, 23, says consumer behaviour has also contributed to the pressure.
“We saw people panic-buying like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic with toilet paper. Now, they can go and stack their meat next to their toilet paper,” he says.

De Azevedo also recognises the wider economic risks. “For those in the export business, this will have grave implications.”

Outbreak threatens Namibia’s export market
Namibia’s Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on a commercial farm in the Karasburg State Veterinary District, in the southern //Kharas Region, on September 23, 2026.

In an address on October 5, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said surveillance teams had recorded 127 positive cases across 15 farms. Teams had inspected 29,313 animals across 68 farms. The government had also established 20 surveillance teams and 10 roadblocks in the region as part of its response.

In an update covering the situation as of October 6, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform reported that 129 animal samples had tested positive and 17 farms had been confirmed infected. Veterinary teams had inspected 72 of 81 targeted farms.

The outbreak was subsequently confirmed in a second region. On October 7, laboratory tests confirmed FMD in cattle at Kalala Island, in the Kabbe constituency of the Zambezi Region, in northern Namibia.

Veterinary officials from the Katima Mulilo State Veterinary Office investigated the suspected outbreak on October 5 after observing clinical signs in 20 cattle. Twelve samples were collected and submitted to the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Windhoek on October 6. All 12 tested positive for the virus the following day.

In a public notification issued on October 10, the ministry outlined restrictions across the Zambezi Region following confirmation of the outbreak.

These include suspending the movement of cloven-hoofed animals and their raw products, cancelling previously issued movement permits, and halting livestock auctions, informal markets and other animal-gathering events. Slaughter at local abattoirs, informal markets and social events has also been suspended.

Slaughter at export abattoirs may continue for eligible cattle under the commodity-based trade system, provided the animals meet quarantine requirements and pass traceability checks.

Emergency vaccination has begun in the affected area, while roadblocks and intensive surveillance are intended to prevent further spread.

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. It can disrupt livestock production and trade, particularly when it affects areas recognised as free of the disease.