Jakarta (ANTARA) - National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Head Lieutenant General Suharyanto conducted a field review of the foot and mouth (FMD) treatment on livestock in East Java, Saturday, under the series to accelerate FMD handling in regions.

After arriving at the Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Suharyanto visited the vaccination location at the Dairy Cattle Farm Cooperative in Nongkojajar. There were 27 thousand cattle, with a vaccine allocation of 25 thousand doses.

Furthermore, Suharyanto and his entourage headed to the Farma Veterinary Center to receive a report regarding the FMD outbreak handling in East Java Province.

On the occasion, he was accompanied by BNPB Deputy for Prevention, BNPB Deputy for Emergency Management, BNPB Preparedness Director, Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center, Head of the Animal Quarantine Center, and Director of Animal Health from the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as BNPB staff and experts.

On June 24, Suharyanto stated that the government had formed an FMD Task Force focused on accelerating FMD handling through measures, including vaccination in 19 red-zone provinces.

"Our Central FMD Task Force will also go directly to the field to review FMD handling in 19 main provinces starting from tomorrow morning," he stated on Thursday.

Suharyanto said the arrival of the PMK Central Task Force was also aimed at helping the regional task force in monitoring FMD handling to avoid price-related issues due to shortage in meat.

Meanwhile, coordinator of the Expert Team for the FMD Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, confirmed the availability of some 800 thousand doses of vaccine, of which 655 thousand doses were being distributed to majority of the areas.

"We hope to be able to complete the administration of 800 thousand doses in the next week. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has been informed about this. There will be another 2.2 million doses coming before Eid al-Adha," Adisasmito noted.

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Translator: Indriani, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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