Jakarta (ANTARA) - Six districts in two provinces have reported an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.
"The Agriculture Ministry has set two areas hit by outbreaks of the foot-and-mouth disease in animals; the areas are two districts in Aceh province and four districts in East Java," Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo informed at a press conference here.
The two districts hit by the FMD outbreak in Aceh are Aceh Tamiang and East Aceh, while the four districts in East Java are Gresik, Sidoarjo, Lamongan, and Mojokerto, Limpo said.
According to the ministry's data, 3,205 heads of livestock have been infected with FMD in East Java, with the death rate reaching 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, 2,226 heads of livestock, have contracted FMD in Aceh, with one death recorded so far.
FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, goats, sheep, and pigs, Limpo said. The disease is transmitted through air or direct contact.
The foot-and-mouth disease in livestock is not transmitted to humans, but only to other farm animals, the minister emphasized.
Moreover, the minister said that the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the local governments, has intervened to control the outbreak so that the virus does not mutate.
The ministry, along with the provincial, district, and city-level local governments, has established a task force for controlling FMD transmission, he added.
Limpo explained that the government has taken three anticipatory measures to tackle the outbreak: first, emergency measures involving direct intervention through outbreak localization to keep the disease from spreading further, and distribution of medicines, vitamins, antibiotics, and preparation of vaccines.
The second step has involved controlling the outbreak so that it does not spread and the virus does not mutate. The third step has involved implementing recovery efforts for livestock.
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