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Govt steps up FMD containment eff orts ahead of Idul Adha
As Idul Adha approaches, the government is taking a variety of measures to try and bring the FMD outbreak under control.
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he government is stepping up efforts to curb the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) ahead of the Islamic holiday of Idul Adha (Day of Sacrifice), which falls on July 10 this year.
But as the highly contagious disease continues to sweep through herds of livestock across the archipelago, the Religious Affairs Ministry has advised Muslims "not to force themselves to perform qurban [ritual sacrifice] in the middle of the FMD outbreak".
The government set up last week a task force to handle the FMD outbreak. Helmed by National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Lt. Gen. Suharyanto, the task force is a joint effort involving the BNPB, the Office of the Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister, the agriculture and home ministries, as well as police and military personnel.
The government has placed a ban on moving livestock from and to highly infected provinces, where at least 50 percent of their districts reported outbreaks. The restriction applies to 11 out of the 19 provinces that have reported cases of FMD to date.
Authorities are trying to control the disease by vaccination, procuring some 3 million doses from France. Of this amount, around 800,000 doses have been distributed to the affected regions.
The Agriculture Ministry is planning to procure more than 43 million total doses to vaccinate over 14 million animals. The ministry has also proposed a budget of Rp 4.6 trillion (US$309,328,955), sourced from the national economic recovery (PEN) budget, to tackle the FMD outbreak.
According to the ministry's secretary-general Kasdi Subagyono, the funds will be used to procure and distribute vaccines and medicines, gather livestock data, improve biosecurity on farms and compensate farmers for cattle loss.
The government last week promised to pay Rp 10 million ($673.3) per head, roughly 50 percent of the average market value, as compensation for infected cattle that were culled to control the outbreak. Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said that the compensation was primarily intended for small and medium-scale livestock breeders.
Read also: Sacrificial livestock price shoots up ahead of Idul Adha
The country’s first cases of FMD were reported in April in Gresik, East Java, after three decades of being FMD-free.
The disease has since spread exponentially across the country, increasing from some 500 cases to more than 288,000 cases in just three months, with around 93,000 recovered cases. Some 1,714 heads of livestock have died from the disease, while authorities have culled almost 3,000 animals.
FMD is a highly infectious viral disease that affects hoofed mammals, including cattle, goats and sheep. Animals with the disease may develop a fever, followed by blisters that form primarily in the mouth and on the feet. The disease has a case fatality rate of less than 1 percent in the country, but it can significantly reduce fertility, growth and milk production in cattle.
Potential shortage
The outbreak emerged just two months before Idul Adha when demand for livestock normally spikes, sparking concerns over a possible meat shortage.
The restriction on livestock movement has reduced supplies and driven up prices. The prices of live cows and buffaloes have shot up 25 percent from last year’s prices to between Rp 70,000 and Rp 75,000 per kilogram. The prices of live goats and sheep have respectively increased to Rp 120,000 and Rp 80,000 per kg.
Agriculture secretary-general Kasdi has reassured the public that the country has enough livestock supply for qurban.
"Currently we have 2.27 million [heads of] cattle, buffalos, goats and sheep, the four most common livestock for qurban. We expect the demand for sacrificial animals to be around 1.81 million," he told lawmakers overseeing agriculture at a meeting on Monday.
Read also: FMD to cost economy estimated $1.37b a year
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) recently issued a guideline for Idul Adha that allows the use of livestock exhibiting mild symptoms of FMD, such as mild blisters, lameness, decreased appetite and drooling, as sacrificial animals. However, the council advised against the use of livestock with severe symptoms, such as blisters that caused hoof loss, limping or inability to walk and massive weight loss.
The government previously said that meat and dairy products contaminated with the FMD virus were safe for human consumption.
The disease is extremely rare in humans and only produces mild symptoms if a person contracts it.
Worsening outbreak
But the FMD outbreak could worsen in the lead-up to Idul Adha from increased movement of livestock and slaughtering methods that differ from commercial practices. The virus can spread through the air and survive on objects and surfaces, such as tires, clothing and footwear.
Slaughtering sacrificial animals for Idul Adha often takes place outside of slaughterhouses and is performed by unlicensed butchers who generally do not have protective equipment.
The Religious Affairs Ministry has issued a circular advising Muslims that they should not feel forced to perform an Idul Adha sacrifice, as doing so was not obligatory.
The ministerial circular says that Muslims must ensure that the sacrificial animal is healthy and not showing any symptoms of FMD. It also encourages taking the livestock to slaughterhouses for slaughtering and cutting, and providing the meat for distribution through credible charity organizations to limit the disease’s spread.
