Head of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Handling Task Force Suharyanto has asked East Java to improve its FMD handling strategy as the province currently has the highest number of active cases.

“East Java province is currently recorded to have the highest active cases in Indonesia. Please collaborate to accelerate FMD handling in East Java,” he said in a statement received here on Thursday.

He delivered the statement while opening the “Leadership Training in Disaster Management within Regional Governments as well as Monitoring and Evaluation of FMD Handling in East Java” on Wednesday (November 2, 2022).

There are five FMD handling strategies: treatment, biosecurity, vaccination, testing, and conditional slaughter, he noted.

In East Java, treatment and vaccination are the main priority, he said.

“East Java is currently a region with a low recovery rate. I ask for the treatment to be checked; if the availability of the medicines is lacking, please report it immediately,” he added.

Currently, East Java’s FMD recovery rate is pegged at 78.57 percent, lower than that of Central Java (81.73 percent) and West Java (82.87 percent).

Meanwhile, Suharyanto lauded the vaccination achievement of East Java as it has recorded the highest FMD vaccination coverage in the country.

“I highly appreciate it and ask other regions to make East Java an example in the implementation of vaccination for animals that are vulnerable to FMD,” he remarked.

He expressed the hope that if East Java accelerates vaccinations, prevents transmission, and strengthens treatment, the number of FMD cases will decline by December 2022.

As of Sunday (October 30), East Java has administered a total of 846,117 vaccine doses, or 83.62 percent of the allotted quota of 1,011,850 doses.

Meanwhile, as of Monday (October 31), the number of active FMD cases in the province has reached 34,751.

Source: Antara News