Jakarta (ANTARA) – Oral and nail diseases that are affecting over one thousand livestock in East Java have a low chance of transmitting to humans, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.
“We have discussed with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) that oral and nail diseases are dominant in animals, with almost zero chance of transmission to humans,” he informed at a virtual press conference on Monday.
The oral and nail diseases detected in 1,247 heads of cattle in East Java are different from SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 and was transmitted by bats to humans.
“The oral and nail diseases only transmit to animals with two claws. It is very rare (for them) to transmit to humans. The public does not need to worry,” Sadikin emphasized.
Oral and nail diseases are very contagious in animals, he said.
The diseases are almost similar to human diseases that affect the feet, mouth, and hands.
“But this is also different from the oral and nail disease in children,” the minister said.
Separately, postgraduate director of YARSI University, Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama, confirmed that foot and mouth disease (FMD) is not a public health problem, and is entirely an animal health problem.
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“Indeed, there have been reports of transmission to humans, as for example, by the European CDC in 2012 entitled ‘Transmission of Foot and Mouth Disease to humans visiting affected areas,’ but these are very rare and only occur in those who have had direct contact,” he explained.
It would be incorrect to say that oral and nail diseases in animals are associated with the hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in children and infants, he added.
“The two are not related at all. They are two different diseases which come from different types of virus,” he emphasized.
Aditama said that hand, foot, and, mouth disease in children and infants is caused by enterovirus 71, while oral and nail diseases in animals are caused by the Aphthovirus, which is a part of the Picornaviridae and has seven strains–A, O, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, and Asia1.
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