Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia is capable of addressing and controlling the ongoing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak and is exerting efforts to ensure farmers can recover and continue their activities.
The national FMD Outbreak Handling Task Force’s Expert Team Head Wiku Adisasmito stated that the government also continues its efforts to ensure the global community that Indonesia can handle the outbreak properly.
“We also ensure the global community that Indonesia could handle this outbreak,” Adisasmito noted in his written statement received here, Thursday.
He said the government was convinced the outbreak could be brought under control soon through the implementation of outbreak-handling strategies.
One of the strategies to handle the disease is by enhancing coordination between the central and regional authorities to obtain FMD outbreak case-related data more effectively in order to receive accurate data on national outbreak conditions, the expert team head remarked.
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Adisasmito noted that the FMD Outbreak Handling Task Force and the Agriculture Ministry have also developed coordination and communication networks with relevant stakeholders to control the outbreak and obtain transparent and accountable outbreak data.
Moreover, the government continues to encourage the participation of residents to observe government policies in a bid to control the outbreak sooner, he affirmed.
The government also urged residents to maintain the existing biosecurity system in their respective regions, he affirmed.
“Residents, particularly farmers, can take proactive steps to report to the officers of village officials if their livestock suffer from FMD symptoms,” Adisasmito stated.
The expert team head said that early reports from farmers would allow prompt handling by veterinarians that will conduct physical checks and treatment of livestock suspected to be infected with FMD.
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