TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Agriculture will start the vaccination of livestock against foot and mouth disease (FMD) from June 14, 2022, in a bid to curb the spread of FMD in Indonesia.

Head of the Ministry of Agriculture's public relations and public information bureau, Kuntoro Boga Andri, said here on Monday that FMD vaccination would begin on June 14 and be carried out based on the mapping of the spread of the disease.

“The government will prepare the budget for the procurement of a total of 3 million doses of the FMD vaccine. Currently, the first batch of the vaccine (doses) has arrived on Sunday, June 12, 2022, via Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Then, 800 thousand doses will arrive in the next few days,” he informed.

The vaccine doses would be prioritized for healthy animals that are at high risk of infection: animals at livestock breeding centers, community-owned dairy farms, dairy cooperatives, and beef cattle farms, Andri said.

The Ministry of Agriculture has predicted that 17 million livestock will receive the vaccine, or around 80 percent of the livestock population in provinces affected by the disease. The livestock will be inoculated three times: twice in 2022 and once in 2023.

The ministry, through its Veterinary Pharmacy Center (Pusvetma), is also preparing a locally-produced vaccine, which is expected to be completed by the end of August 2022

In addition, he urged the community not to panic and worry about the availability of livestock for the Islamic ritual Qurbani (animal sacrifice) during Eid al-Adha.

"We ensure that the availability of animals for Qurbani, such as cattle, goats, and sheep, is safe. This refers to the number of Qurbani animals needed last year, which reached 1.5 million heads," he said.

Despite the FMD outbreak currently occurring in the country, the government is optimistic that the current stock of animals for Qurbani is sufficient for the Eid al-Adha ritual.

"We emphasize that FMD is not harmful to human health and the facts on the field show that FMD can be cured," he stressed.

ANTARA

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