"The addition of vaccines, of course, will be carried out in stages. Because buying FMD vaccines should not be arbitrary, there must be indicators," he said here on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Agriculture currently has three million doses of the FMD vaccine, and 800 thousand doses have been distributed to regions, Limpo noted.
"The addition of vaccines will continue to be processed. Now, there are 3 million doses of the FMD vaccine. Before the feast of Qurbani (Islamic ritual of animal sacrifice), 800 thousand doses have been distributed. Of course, this will also continue to grow," he added.
Then, the minister also said that for handling FMD in livestock, the Ministry of Agriculture has set a number of agendas, including an emergency agenda.
The emergency agenda includes the policy of blocking FMD-affected areas and isolating livestock in those areas, he informed.
He said that the number of regions affected by the disease has continued to increase. However, not all cattle in those regions have been infected with FMD.
Limpo reminded people not to panic too much about the disease, which could lead to farmers selling their livestock at low prices and experiencing losses due to some parties taking advantage of the situation.
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Nevertheless, he highlighted that FMD should not be underestimated because it spreads quickly through air.
On June 14, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture commenced its FMD vaccination program for livestock from Sidoarjo district, East Java.
Vaccine doses are being prioritized for healthy animals that are at high risk of infection, such as animals at livestock breeding centers, community-owned dairy farms, dairy cooperatives, and beef cattle farms.
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Translator: Dian Hadiyatna, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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