May 8, 2023

Indonesia gets help from FAO and Australia to fight LSD, FMD infections in livestock

Indonesia has moved another step closer to eliminating lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among livestock with the support of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Australia.

The FAO and the Australian government are collaborating to support Indonesia in containing and controlling the spread of the high-impact cattle diseases, according to a written statement issued by FAO Indonesia on May 3.

With the Australian government contributing US$792,000 to the effort, the FAO will help increase the capacity of Indonesian livestock officials and farmers to prevent and control LSD and FMD outbreaks, while strengthening risk communication among the targeted high-risk groups, the statement said.

"We are very pleased to assist with efforts to stop the further spread of foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease within the region," said Australia's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Murray Watt. "These efforts require significant resourcing, technical expertise and collaboration and we will continue to work together to support each other and share knowledge."

More than 600,000 animals in Indonesia have been infected with FMD and more than 11,000 have died, while farmers have been forced to slaughter another 15,000 animals so far, according to the FAO.

Indonesia had remained free of FMD for more than 30 years, but in September 2022, the government reported an FMD outbreak in 24 out of 34 provinces in the country. Since then, another three provinces have been affected by the outbreak.

Meantime, LSD has infected more than 22,000 animals in 13 provinces in Indonesia, and the outbreaks have continued.

- ANTARA