FMD Outbreak Handling Involves Disaster Mitigation Agency: Minister

TheIndonesia.co - The effort to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock in Indonesia is now involving the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Minister of Agriculture has confirmed.

Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said his office has started coordinating with BNPB in a collective effort to handle FMD outbreak in provinces across Indonesia.

“We’ve been working to handle FMD and are cooperating with BNPB. The military and the police have also stepped in,” Limpo said on Monday, July 11, as reported by Antara.

As FMD outbreak is considered a complex matter, he said coordination is necessary to prevent further spread of the viral disease.

“It’s not an easy issue to handle because [the virus] is airborne, and a person who enters barn or touch infected livestock can become carrier,” the Minister explained.

One of his focuses at the moment is isolating areas that are classified as “red zones” and allowing only conditional slaughter in regions in which FMD cases are detected recently. Those efforts are expected to gradually solve the national FMD problem.

In regards to qurban donations during Idul Adha, Limpo said he hadn’t received any reports about FMD-infected qurban animals.

“Based on information I’ve received, so far, everything is [safe]. All [qurban animals] are slaughtered based on applicable health requirements,” he concluded.