INDONESIA FORMS NATIONAL TASK FORCE TO TACKLE FMD IN LIVESTOCK

YOGYAKARTA, Jan 11 (Bernama-ANTARA) -- The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture has formed the National Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Task Force as a strategic measure to check the spread of FMD in livestock in Indonesia, reported ANTARA news agency.

"This task force is aimed at ensuring collaboration and synergy in harmonising FMD control down to the regional level," the ministry's Director General of Livestock and Animal Health, Agung Suganda, stated in a press conference here on Saturday.

The task force involves various farmers' associations and professional groups, such as the Indonesian Animal Husbandry Graduates Association (ISPI) and the Indonesian Association of Veterinarians (PDHI).

According to Suganda, the national task force will monitor FMD handling in all regions, including responding to reports from livestock farmers.

Education related to FMD handling, vaccination around locations where FMD cases are found, and providing access to information related to vaccine distribution will also be intensified through the task force.

The Ministry of Agriculture has readied four million vaccine doses to handle the FMD outbreak in Indonesia.

"Hopefully, we can distribute the four million vaccine doses in the shortest possible time," he remarked.

He expressed optimism that the establishment of the national task force would soon be followed by the reactivation of the FMD task force in various provinces, districts, and cities that were formed earlier in 2022.

Based on data from the National Animal Health Information System (iSIKHNAS) from December 9, 2024, to January 9, 2025, at least 4,000 cases of FMD were recorded in Indonesia.

Budi Guntoro, a member of the National FMD Task Force, also invited all animal husbandry faculties of universities in Indonesia to form similar task forces to support FMD handling in their respective regions.

He affirmed that universities have abundant human resources and can involve students to go directly to the field to help the government handle FMD.

"The task of the task forces (in universities) is the dissemination of information, especially related to biosecurity to farmers in regions," he stated.

--BERNAMA-ANTARA