Indonesia starts vaccinating cattle in Riau to prevent LSD from spreading
Pekanbaru, Riau.
To prevent the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in cattle, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture has carried out vaccinations in Riau Province. This was stated by Nasrullah, Director General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), Ministry of Agriculture through its official press release, Friday (18/03).
"LSD is an animal disease originally from Africa that has infected cattle in Riau in the past one month, so for emergency treatment, the Ministry of Agriculture has started vaccination," said Director General Nasrullah. "The LSD vaccination aims to prevent the new infections and further expansion of the disease," he said.
According to Nasrullah, in this first stage, vaccination will be focused on infected villages and will then be carried out in the control zone with a radius of 10 km from the infected village.
"100 thousand doses of vaccine and vaccination logistics are ready," he added.
Nasrullah further explained that the LSD control efforts in the districts of Indragiri Hulu, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hilir, Dumai, Siak, Bengkalis, and Kampar are supported by the Australia-Indonesia Health Security Partnership (AIHSP), as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAO).
"The Riau Provincial Government and the district have also been very supportive of this this vaccination," he added.
Head of the Livestock and Animal Health Services of Riau Province, Herman, welcomed this vaccination activity and hoped that it will supress the number of new LSD cases and the spread of LSD from current infected areas. According to him, 188 animal health workers are ready to carry out vaccinations.
"We thank you for the full support from the Ministry of Agriculture and AIHSP and FAO in controlling LSD in Riau,” Herman said.
Support from International Partners
Rajendra Aryal, the FAO Representative in Indonesia and Timor Leste explained that LSD has currently infected Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and other countries in Asia. Therefore, he reiterated the importance of international collaboration in controlling diseases that may spread across borders and disrupt the trade.
“FAO is working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and supporting Indonesia to promptly respond to this Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) outbreak before it further threatens the animal health and food systems,” said Aryal.
Along the same line, John Leigh, AIHSP Team Leader also conveyed his commitment to continue assisting and supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in the process of controlling LSD in Riau.
"We are ready to help ensure that the LSD outbreak in Riau can be controlled and does not spread to other areas," said Leigh.
Meanwhile, Nuryani Zainuddin, Director of Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture, said that in addition to seven currently infected districts, vaccination was also carried out in Rokan Hulu Regency, one of which was included in the control zone.
"We will gradually vaccinate cattle starting from infected villages and control zones. After that, we can proceed to a 50 km radius from the infected villages or surveillance zone," she concluded.
*Contact Person:*
Siska Widyawati, National Communications Advisor FAO Indonesia, +62 87884885489, [email protected]