Lessons from the Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Officers inspect the mouths of cows sold by seasonal cattle traders in the Cipondoh area, Tangerang City, Banten, Wednesday (15/6/2022).

Coverage on the results of the Kompas daily investigation of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) for the past two days has been eye opening, showing that animal diseases cannot be underestimated. Serious attention is needed.

The team's investigation in the field from Aceh Province to East Java found cattle smuggling routes that became the entry points for the transmission of FMD in livestock.

The team traced the trail of goat smuggling from Thailand, through the east coast of Sumatra Island, to farms on the island of Java. Thailand is a country that is not free from the foot-and-mouth disease. This transnational goat trade is carried out, among other methods, through social media.

Smuggled goats from Thailand enter through an unofficial route in Aceh Tamiang. One shipment via the "rat port" of Aceh Tamiang in February 2022 was found to have managed to enter Java.

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From the information obtained by Kompas, the goats were taken to Wonosobo Regency, Central Java, among other locations. A farm in Wonosobo, owned by HR (31), is known to have a saanen goat from Thailand. When visited on 13 June 2022, one Saanen goat was seen being put into a cage with local goats and Wonosobo sheep.

Previously on 8 May 2022, the Wates Veterinary Center (BB Vet) in Yogyakarta took a sample of HR's goats. The results on 9 May showed a Saanen goat and two Wonosobo sheep had tested positive for FMD.

Before attacking Indonesia, this serotype was known starting in 2020, namely in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Malaysia.

Head of BB Vet Wates Hendra Wibawa suspected that the 2022 Indonesian FMD virus entered from one source. Before attacking Indonesia, this serotype was known starting in 2020, namely in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Malaysia.

Besides finding routes for cattle smuggling from abroad, the Kompas team also found important evidence that FMD has been detected since 2015.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

A cow looks weak and falls down in Cipari Village, Cigugur District, Kuningan Regency, West Java, Wednesday (15/6/2022).

The team obtained a number of documents, laboratory test results, photographs and testimonies from several reliable sources confirming the existence of PMK in 2015 and an alleged cover-up.

Evidence of the FMD case in 2015 was strengthened by the results of testing samples of pigs suspected of being exposed to FMD by the Veterinary Farma Center (Pusvetma) in Surabaya, East Java. Pusvetma tested samples at the Bio Security Laboratory Level 3 (Lab BSL-3) of Airlangga University (Unair) in November 2015. The manager of the BSL-3 Unair Lab at that time, CA Nidom, acknowledged that the results of testing animal samples from Pusvetma using the PCR method were positive for FMD.

The findings of the Kompas team provide an important lesson that the government needs to pay attention to information disclosures. If the public received enough information about the 2015 FMD, their preparedness to face the 2022 FMD outbreak would have certainly been better. The government needs to clearly explain this disease to the public.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)