"Earlier, we provided 12,500 vaccine doses to East Java, aligning with the requirement. It is crucial to vaccinate (animals) in Surabaya since they have not been infected," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman remarked after a coordination meeting on food in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday.
He noted that the Ministry of Agriculture had readied four million doses of such a vaccine, with a budget of around Rp100 billion (US$6.1 million), to curb the spread of FMD in Indonesia.
He remarked that for East Java, the ministry has dispatched a special team tasked with dealing with the disease in partnership with provincial, district, and municipal governments while adding that the team has been working unceasingly for nearly a week.
The minister then emphasized the need to take preventive measures in regions not yet impacted by FMD to avoid a critical situation similar to what East Java and Central Java are currently experiencing.
In view of this, Sulaiman recalled the government's prior success in swiftly preventing FMD from plaguing Bogor, West Java, without alerting the media to the cases found at that time.
Meanwhile, East Java Acting Governor Adhy Karyono highlighted a substantial rise in the count of FMD cases between late 2024 and early 2025, from an average of 10 cases to 250 cases on average daily.
"East Java is home to around 9.2 million animals at risk of FMD, comprising 3.4 million cows, five million goats, 610 thousand sheep, 10 thousand buffaloes, and 107 thousand pigs," he pointed out.
To tackle the disease, he highlighted various measures taken by the provincial government, including restricting the inbound shipments of animals, conducting vaccinations, and providing treatment for livestock.
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Translator: Willi I, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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