Garut Gets 12,500 Doses Of PMK Vaccine, The Target Is Not The Infected But Healthy Livestock

Veterinarians and health workers prepare to examine farm animals exposed to mouth and hoof disease (FMD). (Between)

GARUT - The Government of Garut Regency received a supply of 12,500 doses of oral and nail disease vaccine (PMK) from the central government. The PMK vaccine target will be injected into livestock, especially dairy cows.

"We have received the vaccine given in two stages, all 12,500 doses of PMK vaccine," said Head of the Fisheries and Livestock Service Office of Garut Regency, Sofyan Yani in Garut, quoted from Antara, West Java, Tuesday, June 28.

He said the Garut Regency Government proposed 13 thousand doses of PMK vaccine to the central government for livestock vaccination needs, especially dairy cows.

In the first stage, 200 doses are given. Furthermore, in the second stage, it is given again until the total reaches 12,500 doses, most of which have started to be injected for healthy dairy cows, while sick ones are not vaccinated.

"We have injected the vaccines that we have received, especially for dairy cows, because they have a long lifespan, unlike beef cattle, which are short for consumption," he said.

According to him, Garut needs many doses of PMK vaccine when viewed from the number of livestock population, but because the vaccine availability is still limited, the priority is for dairy cows, which number around 13 thousand heads.

Garut, he said, in the future will get back the supply of FMD vaccine from the central government which is expected to be injected for other livestock in order to prevent the transmission of the FMD outbreak.

"There will also be another supply of PMK vaccine doses, but now we will use up the 12 thousand," he said.

He conveyed that based on the report from the animal health team, 5,227 cattle received treatment with symptoms of FMD and support for treatment without symptoms, spread over 21 sub-districts.

It was recorded that 3,460 cattle with FMD symptoms had received treatment, and 1,760 cattle that recovered after receiving treatment, 75 died, and 79 cattle with FMD symptoms were conditionally slaughtered.

"There are 75 dead cattle with symptoms of PMK, 79 cattle with symptoms of PMK that are conditionally slaughtered," he concluded.