"God Willing that at present, the Agriculture Ministry's Veterinary Pharmacy Center is currently conceiving the FMD vaccine that is expected to be complete in four months, or before August 2022," Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said during a hearing meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) here on Monday.
The Veterinary Pharmacy Center has identified the virus serotype that has caused the FMD outbreak in Indonesia as the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001e variant, which is often found in Southeast Asia, he informed.
Based on the virus serotype, the authority will produce vaccines from domestic sources to fulfill the demand for the mass vaccination of livestock against the disease, the minister said.
The vaccination program will start once the vaccine is mass-produced, he said, adding that the vaccinated animals will be those that have potentially been infected with FMD.
According to data from the Agriculture Ministry, as of May 17, 2022, at least 3.9 million heads of livestock in 52 cities and districts in 15 provinces have been affected by FMD.
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Of the affected animals, around 13,965 heads of livestock, or 0.36 percent of the total affected livestock, have been confirmed to be infected with FMD through a laboratory PCR test.
Of the infected livestock, about 2,630 (18.83 percent) heads of livestock have recovered, while another 99 livestock have succumbed to the infection.
The minister clarified that FMD does not transmit to humans and the meat of infected livestock can still be consumed safely as long as they are slaughtered by observing strict health protocols and the infected organ is destroyed.
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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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