More Than 800,000 Livestock Vaccinated Against Foot-and-Mouth Disease

TheIndonesia.id - Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture has reported that 805,570 livestock in Indonesia have been vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as of Sunday, July 31, as vaccination effort remains a priority to tackle the outbreak.

As reported by Antara, amid the vaccine rollout, the Ministry also confirmed that 453,184 livestock had been infected by FMD virus – consisting of 433,684 cows, 14,426 buffalos, 1,624 sheep, 3,391 goats, and 59 pigs.

Meanwhile, 251,992 animals had recovered while 189,594 continued to be treated.

The FMD had also killed 4,433 livestock across Indonesia, and 7,165 of them were slaughtered due to the viral disease.

Lastly, the report also confirmed that 272 regencies and municipalities across the country had been impacted by the outbreak.

Last week, the FMD Handling Task Force reaffirmed that vaccination and testing continued to be the priority to contain the spread of FMD in livestock.

The Task Force’s spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito asked regions to accelerate vaccination and encourage local governments to carry out testing.

“Testing must be done immediately to prevent further spread. Don’t hesitate to conduct testing because we can detect [infection] not only from symptoms, but also from testing,” Adisasmito said on July 28.

He also ordered local task forces to continue educating farmers to remain calm and avoid panic selling.

It was also previously confirmed that Indonesia was planning to develop locally made FMD vaccine.

Adisasmito said government had gradually shifted its focus to start developing vaccine in Indonesia while simultaneously importing vaccines from other countries.

“The government is working to develop the vaccine while [also] procuring FMD vaccines from overseas that will work against the serotype found in Indonesia,” Adisasmito stated.

Prior to the news, the Indonesian government had confirmed it will import three million vaccine doses for FMD that have undergone suitability test to ensure they can be used against the viral disease in Indonesia.

Those vaccines are Aftopor from France, CAVAC from China, Aftomune from Brazil, and Argentine-made Aftogen Oleo and Aftosa.

The Australian government also pledged to send one million FMD vaccines to Indonesia this month as part of the commitment to support national effort to contain the current FMD outbreak.