(Educate) the people in the sub-district, particularly the cattle breeders, to not become virus carriers. After visiting a cage (filled with) sick (animals), do not go anywhere yetJakarta (ANTARA) - The Agriculture Ministry reminded cattle breeders to not spread the foot and mouth disease (FMD) further from sick animals to healthy ones by becoming carriers.
"(Educate) the people in the sub-district, particularly the cattle breeders, to not become virus carriers. After visiting a cage (filled with) sick (animals), do not go anywhere yet," the director general of animal health and farm at Agriculture Ministry, Nasrullah, stated on Friday.
At the event, the sub-districts were edified by about the FMD outbreak by the ministry.
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He reminded cattle breeders to sanitize themselves if they were looking to travel anywhere after being in the vicinity of infected animals.
The virus could spread rapidly, either through air or other mediums, such as surfaces and human beings.
"The spread, first of it is from (being attached to surfaces), second is airborne, and third is from vehicles. Hence, the virus can attach on to our shoes and pants, and so also is the case with vehicles that carry animals," he explained.
Emphasis was also laid on the important role of sub-district leaders in addressing the FMD issue and preventing the outbreak from further worsening at the sub-district or village levels.
He also reminded sub-district leaders, whose areas were still free from the outbreak, to exercise caution and put in immediate efforts in the event of first cases surfacing, so as to swiftly slaughter them under the circumstances and prevent further spread.
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"Mr sub-district leader, if (you see), (for) cases like this, immediately (take action). Do not leave it as it is because with every passing hour, the risk for it to (spread) further gets higher," Nasrullah cautioned.
He noted that the animals slaughtered under special circumstances could still be sold at the market price. However, their internal organs would be immediately destroyed by being burnt or buried underground.
The government had distributed 800 thousand vaccine doses to 21 provinces where the disease had spread, all across Indonesia. Of the allocated items, 491 thousand doses had been administered.
The government will distribute 2.2 million FMD vaccines to those 21 areas once all of the 800 thousand initial doses were administered.
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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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