Not Only Human, Currently Animals Must Also Be Quarantined To Avoid FMD

BANTUL - The Bantul Regency Government, Yogyakarta Special Region, requires a 14-day quarantine for livestock imported from outside the region before ensuring that the animal's condition is healthy and free from foot and mouth disease (FMD).

Head of the Bantul Agriculture and Food Security Agency, Joko Waluyo in Bantul, Thursday, June 16, said that every livestock traded on the market must be in a healthy condition as evidenced by an animal health certificate (SKKH) from a local health center doctor.

"As an anticipation of the spread of FMD, we will issue SKKH for livestock and livestock imported from outside, when they have entered Bantul, we will quarantine for 14 days, after that we will check and then we can issue SKKH for livestock," he said, quoted by Antara.

Thus, he said, the doctor will issue the livestock SKKH after conducting an examination and in healthy condition on livestock from outside that have been quarantined by entrepreneurs and traders in Bantul.

"Now livestock from outside must have SKKH, and before 14 days we do not dare to issue SKKH, especially now friends who are looking for animals for sacrifice must also have SKKH, sacrificial animals must have SKKH," he said.

In ensuring the health condition of livestock in anticipation of FMD, including ahead of Eid al-Adha or the implementation of sacrificial slaughter, his party involved doctors in all vet clinics at the sub-district level in Bantul.

"We also carry out surveillance on the rat roads, because frankly there are a lot of cows in Bantul from Wonosari (Gunung Kidul), Wonogiri (Central Java), and because there are no traffic checkpoints on the Bantul border, so there is also tightening of supervision at the market," he said.

Regarding the development of FMD cases, he said, in Bantul at least 973 cases were found spread across 13 sub-districts.

Even so, his party asked the public not to panic, because meat can still be consumed after being cooked properly.

This, he said, is a virus that attacks the mouth and hooves of livestock and has now been found in many areas, is not contagious to humans, or is not zoonotic.

"The important thing now is that cattle breeders understand how to do 'treatment' for cows affected by FMD, we ask to immediately contact the vet clinic, all of which are supported by veterinarians, we have 10 vet clinics," he said.