Cattle Farmers In Kuningan Screaming In The Face Of PMK, The Money Is Out, Not Necessarily The Cattle Are Cured

JAKARTA - Dairy cattle farmers in Kuningan, West Java hope for medical assistance to treat the mouth and nail disease (PMK) outbreak in their livestock.

"We need help for the treatment of cattle infected with FMD," said a dairy farmer from Kuningan District, Junen, in Kuningan, Thursday, June 9, quoted from Antara.

Junen who is also the Secretary of the Karya Nugraha Multipurpose Cooperative (KSU), Kuningan Regency, admitted that because of the FMD outbreak, many dairy farmers had to pay more for the treatment of their respective livestock.

When a cow is infected with FMD, he said, it takes around Rp. 200-Rp 500 thousand for treatment. In fact, even though they have spent a lot of money, the cattle are not necessarily cured and that makes it difficult for farmers.

"Because this is an epidemic, we ask for help and relief from the government," he said.

Junen said that currently there are hundreds of dairy cows that have contracted FMD and have disrupted milk production, because productivity has drastically decreased.

"If you have PMK, it will be difficult for cows to produce milk," he said.

Moreover, said Junen, the existence of hoax news stating that milk and meat from cows infected with FMD should not be consumed, this requires education to the wider community.

"Meat and milk can still be consumed, even though the cow has been exposed to FMD," he said.

Meanwhile, the Veterinary Medical Veterinarian of the Fisheries and Livestock Service Office of Kuningan Regency, Rofiq, said that the animal health officers are currently focusing on curing livestock infected with FMD.

He explained that dairy cows are animals that are susceptible to FMD outbreaks, because the close proximity of the cage conditions makes the virus spread quickly.

"We focus on the treatment of livestock affected by FMD, from the available data the recovery is quite high," he said.