Asked Not To Take PMK Lightly, Ministry Of Agriculture Admits It Will Import 3 Million Doses Of Vaccine To Arrive Next Week

Veterinarians prepare to give vaccine injections to cattle with indications of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Aceh Besar in May 2022. (Antara-Ampelsa)

JAKARTA - The chairman of Commission IV of the DPR Sub-Department has asked the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) not to take the mouth and nail disease (PMK) epidemic in farm animals lightly.

He said the impact of PMK was threatening the ruminant livestock industry in Indonesia.

"This is our focus, so don't take it lightly. Today, many farmers report their cows are dead, even though they want Eid al-Adha. But it seems the Ministry of Agriculture is taking it easy, how come there is no movement," said Sudin during a hearing with echelon I of the Ministry of Agriculture at the Parliament Building Senayan Jakarta, Wednesday 8 June.

The PDI-P (PDIP) politician said that at least 1.6 million cows and goats are needed to face Eid.

"Don't let this have an impact on the availability of livestock supplies and price stability, which will harm farmers as producers and society as consumers," said Sub-Department, as reported by Antara.

The Sub-Department also asked the Ministry of Agriculture to open up and validate data regarding PMK cases reported in each region. In addition, he also asked for clarity regarding the handling of the FMD outbreak by procuring vaccines that were imported or produced domestically.

Director of Animal Husbandry and Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nasrullah, added that his party would import 3 million doses of emergency vaccine from France and will arrive in the second week of June 2022.

In addition, there is also a vaccine obtained from a partner of the Ministry of Agriculture, namely the World Food Agency (FAO), which will come on June 12. In addition, there are also vaccines obtained in collaboration with several countries, namely from Australia with 500 thousand to 1 million doses, Brazil with 100 thousand doses, and New Zealand with 100 thousand doses, which are estimated to come on July 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, the Center for Veterinary Pharmacy, Ministry of Agriculture, is producing vaccines domestically. "For the development of a vaccine at the Farma Veterinary Center, currently we are in the process of preparing and we estimate that it will start in August or September," said Nasrullah.

The Ministry of Agriculture estimates that as many as 17 million livestock animals will be vaccinated or as much as 80 percent of the population from the province affected by FMD. The vaccination will be carried out three times, namely two injections in 2022 and once in 2023.

Nasrullah said that the PMK vaccine procurement came from the disease prevention fund at the Directorate General of PKH to finance 800,000 doses of vaccine. Meanwhile, to cover the remaining 2.2 million doses of vaccine shortage, a budget refocusing from the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Agriculture was carried out.