Indonesian Government Starts National Vaccination Program for FMD Diseases in Sidoarjo, East Java

JAKARTADAILY.ID – Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Regional Government of East Java Province on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, started a national mass vaccination for Mouth and Nail Diseases (FMD) that have been spreading among farm animals in the country.

The first national mass vaccination was carried out in two locations, first at the dairy farm of Tanjunganom Hamlet, Tanjungsari Village, Taman Sidoarjo District, East Java, and at the Hermitage Jaya Livestock Group, Banjar Anyar Hamlet, Maduretno Hermitage Village, Taman District, Sidoarjo Regency.

"Through this vaccination, we hope to help prevent the spread of disease, especially in dairy farming centers and breeding areas," said Director General of Livestock and Animal Health (Dirjen PKH) Nasrullah, in a press statement, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

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Nasrullah conveyed that this national mass vaccination is one of the permanent measures taken by the government in the context of preventing and controlling FMD through immunizing animals that are susceptible to FMD.

"We will prioritize this first stage of vaccine for healthy livestock and are in the red and yellow zones because our current number of vaccines is still limited, so only selected livestock will be vaccinated," said Nasrullah.

According to Nasrullah, animals that have recovered from FMD already have immunity to the virus, so they have not been vaccinated yet. To prevent the spread of PMK, Nasrullah suggested that farmers apply biosecurity and cage disinfection.

He also said that in the first phase, the government will provide 800,000 doses of vaccine and it is planned for the next phase of 2.2 million doses.

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On June 12, 2022, some 10,000 doses of the first phase of the vaccine arrived. The vaccine will be distributed to the Village Unit Cooperatives (KUD) for dairy cattle in the provinces of East Java, Central Java, and West Java.

Vaccines will also be given to 4 Breeding Technical Service Units (UPT), namely the Baturaden Superior Breeding and Forage Center for Breeding, Cipelang Embryo Transfer Center, Lembang Artificial Insemination Center, and Singosari Artificial Insemination Center.

"The distribution and implementation of the next stage of the vaccine, in addition to considering commodity priorities, FMD vulnerable areas, and livestock development goals, will also pay attention to other technical considerations, such as the availability of vaccines, vaccinators, vaccine cold chain management," explained Nasrullah.

For the effectiveness of the implementation of the vaccine, marking and data collection will be carried out through ear tags.

"After vaccination, it is very important to mark the cows and collect data into the livestock data collection system," said Nasrullah. "After data collection and vaccination, the QR Code contained in Eartag will be scanned through Android-based Mobile Apps," he added.