The National Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Handling Task Force has reported that 11 provinces in Indonesia have recorded zero active FMD cases in farm animals as of October 24, 2022.
The 11 provinces are Lampung, West Sulawesi, Bali, Riau Islands, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Jakarta, Banten, South Sumatra, and Aceh, an official from the task force, Lukmansyah, informed in a written statement released here on Thursday.
“Even though there are no active cases, it is hoped that the five strategies that include biosecurity, testing, treatment, vaccination, and conditional slaughter will continue to be implemented consistently,” he said.
During a meeting for the coordination and evaluation of FMD task force command posts in Lampung province on Wednesday, he stressed that the five strategies are essential and must be prioritized because even if some regions have no active cases, it does not mean that they are free from the virus.
At the same meeting, the regional secretary of Lampung province, Fahrizal Darminto, said that all relevant parties must support the instructions from the task force to prevent and control the FMD outbreak.
According to Darminto, Lampung must continue to increase vigilance and consistently follow the five main strategies for handling FMD considering that its neighboring province, Bengkulu, is included in the FMD red zone area with 988 active cases and is among the provinces with the highest number of active cases.
“We will note and immediately take more maximal actions,” he stressed.
Earlier, the FMD Handling Task Force had set the target of making 24 provinces free from FMD transmission by November this year.
An official from the task force, Ary Laksmana Widjadja, said in a written statement received on October 13 that the 24 provinces are expected to be free from FMD cases because the G20 Summit is scheduled to be held in Bali in November.
By December, herd immunity is expected to be formed among animals that are vulnerable to FMD, he added.
Source: Antara News