Very Rarely Infected To Humans, Regent Of Purbalingga Still Reminds To Beware Of PMK

Checking cattle on a farm in Garut, West Java. (AntaraHO/Diskominfo Garut)

PURBALINGGA - The Regent of Purbalingga, Central Java, Dyah Hayuning Pratiwi asked his residents not to panic about mouth and nail disease (FMD) because it only attacks livestock and is very rarely transmitted to humans.

"This disease is very rarely transmitted to humans, it can even be said that it is not transmitted to humans through the meat or milk of animals affected by FMD," he said in Purbalingga, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, May 24.

Moreover, he said, if the meat or milk is cooked at a high temperature, namely at least 70 degrees Celsius and within a sufficient time span, before being consumed.

"Therefore, people do not need to panic as long as the meat or milk is cooked properly and correctly," he added.

Dyah added that the Purbalingga Regency Government is still continuing to increase the socialization of PMK with the target of breeders, livestock traders and all related parties in order to anticipate the spread of PMK in the local area.

"We hope that with comprehensive socialization and education, it will provide understanding and increase awareness of all parties so that they can jointly anticipate the spread of FMD in livestock in this region," he said.

For prevention, he said, a task force will be formed to carry out socialization and pick up the ball to farmer groups and follow up if there are findings of livestock with symptoms of PMK.

"We hope that this policy can strategically prevent the spread of FMD in livestock, while until now there is no plan to close the animal market in Purbalingga," he said.

Meanwhile, academics from the Faculty of Animal Husbandry Unsoed drh. Mohandas Indradji, MP added that the public needs to report immediately if they find livestock with symptoms of mouth and nail diseases such as high fever, loss of appetite, erosion of the tongue, lips, gums and nose and large amounts of saliva dripping.

The lecturer in the field of veterinary public health/epidemiology of animal diseases added that other common symptoms are limping animals, inflammation of the nails, and sometimes bloating and loose nails.

According to Indradji, efforts to anticipate the spread of FMD really need to be done massively because the productivity of animals affected by this disease can decrease drastically by around 15 to 50 percent. In addition, transmission to other livestock is also very fast and can cause death.