East Java accelerates Phase 2 vaccinations to curb FMD spread

Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA) - The government of East Java Province is currently focusing on accelerating the second phase of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccinations among livestock to curb the spread of the disease in the province.

The acceleration is being carried out following the receipt of 600 thousand additional FMD vaccine doses by East Java.

"All the vaccine doses that have arrived have been immediately distributed to 38 districts and cities," East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said at the Grahadi State Building here on Tuesday.

The distributed vaccine doses will be used to expand vaccination coverage and revaccinate cattle that have received the first dose. Of the 600 thousand doses, 380,100 have been allotted to revaccinate animals, while the remaining 219,900 will be used to expand the first dose vaccination coverage among beef cattle.

Farm animals that are being prioritized for vaccination are breeder cattle, dairy cattle, beef cattle, and buffaloes. Meanwhile, goats, sheep, and pigs will be vaccinated after all cattle and buffaloes have been vaccinated.

In the first phase of vaccinations, 380,091 farm animals were vaccinated.

Parawansa said that the acceleration of FMD vaccinations has involved all animal health workers, or as many as 2,450 people consisting of 950 veterinarians and 1,500 veterinary paramedics.

She informed that the East Java provincial government is working with the Center for Animal Husbandry Training and the Indonesian Veterinary Association (PDHI) to train 1,200 health workers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri).

The vaccinator teams also include 600 young veterinarians from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Airlangga University Surabaya, Brawijaya University Malang, and Wijaya Kusuma University, as well as 350 veterinarians from PDHI.

Overall, East Java has a total of 950 vaccinator teams capable of vaccinating an average of 12,500 to 15,000 animals per day, the governor disclosed.

Thus, the inoculation of the 600 thousand vaccine doses is expected to be completed in 1.5 months, she added.