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Local farmers pay price of foot and mouth outbreak before Idul Adha
A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has ripped through two provinces since April, killing thousands of cows and infecting hundreds of thousands more, raising consumer fears before the July 10 festival.
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Volunteers struggle to control a cow during a ritual sacrifice for the Idul Adha festival in Jakarta, July 10, 2022. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
F
armer Okky Pratama usually sells dozens of cattle for Idul Adha, making his biggest earnings around the Islamic day of sacrifice, but this year he has sold just five.
A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has ripped through two provinces since April, killing thousands of cows and infecting hundreds of thousands more, raising consumer fears before the July 10 festival.
Clusters of the highly infectious animal virus in East Java and Aceh provinces have rattled cattle farmers and their output during the most profitable time of year in a country with the world's biggest Muslim population.
"I am pessimistic about the sales. Regular buyers unusually did not send me any purchase inquiries," said Okky, whose cow farm in the mountainous Batu City is situated in the hardest-hit East Java province.
"When I contacted them, they said they did not (want to) sacrifice any livestock this year because of the foot-and-mouth disease."
Profits from the holiday season -- around Rp 60 million ($4,000) -- account for 75 percent of his annual earnings, 31-year-old Okky told AFP.
But he has so far lost two of his cattle to the disease -- which was first detected in early May.
