According to Maharani, stricter supervision is needed on account of the increasing cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which mostly affects cattle.
"Supervision must continue to be carried out until the last moment before Eid al-Adha so that the animals used for Qurbani are truly fit and healthy," she said in a statement issued here on Friday.
Each region's Agriculture Office needs to continue checking Qurbani animal sales locations in its area, she added.
According to the DPR Speaker, the government needs to intensify the livestock vaccination program as part of anticipatory measures against FMD since, based on the latest data, the disease has spread to 236 districts and cities in 21 provinces, with a total of 334,213 farm animals infected of which 114,998 have been declared recovered.
"The government must also pay attention to the needs of veterinary health workers in regions," she stressed.
The number of vaccinators must be increased in order to boost vaccination coverage, she added.
She also voiced her support for the step taken by the Ministry of Agriculture to involve veterinary health workers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) in the vaccination program.
The government can also involve veterinary medicine students by cooperating with universities and providing training to the students first, she said.
"Currently, for the first phase, three million doses of the FMD vaccine have been made available in the country. However, the number of vaccine doses that have been distributed and injected is not yet maximal," she added.
Related news: FMD cases touch 317,889; 21 provinces detect infections
Maharani appealed to farmers and cattle owners to cooperate with the FMD vaccination program because several parties in several regions have rejected the program. The FMD vaccine could bolster animals' immunity against the disease, she highlighted.
In addition, she asked people to report to the nearest Agriculture Office if they find animals that are unhealthy and to choose Qurbani animals carefully to ensure that their meat is safe for consumption.
Related news: Ministry reminds cattle breeders to not become FMD virus carriers
Translator: Imam Budilaksono, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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