Livestock Disease Outbreak: These are the Regions with the Largest Cattle Populations

Several regions in Indonesia are currently experiencing an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) affecting livestock such as goats, sheep, deer, buffaloes, and cattle.

The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has designated several regencies in East Java and Aceh as areas affected by the FMD outbreak in early May 2022.

Based on the *2021 Livestock and Animal Health Statistics*, East Java and Aceh are among the top 10 provinces with the largest national population of beef cattle.

The beef cattle population in East Java is recorded at 4.94 million head, or 27.36% of the total national beef cattle population. Meanwhile, in Aceh, the number is approximately 452,000 head (2.5%).

This FMD outbreak should also be watched out for by other provinces with large cattle populations, such as Central Java with 1.86 million head of beef cattle (10.32%), South Sulawesi with 1.46 million head (8.09%), West Nusa Tenggara with 1.33 million head (7.4%), and East Nusa Tenggara with 1.25 million head (6.9%).

In total, the beef cattle population in Indonesia reached 18.05 million head in 2021. This number increased by 3.5% compared to the previous year's population of 17.44 million head.

Although the FMD outbreak has the potential to cause livestock deaths, the disease is claimed to be harmless to humans.

“What we need to understand is that this FMD is indeed dangerous for animals, but it is not contagious or does not pose a risk to human health,” said Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo in his press statement on Tuesday (10/5/2022).

Kementan stated that it has sent thousands of veterinary medical and paramedical personnel to the FMD-affected areas. In addition, Kementan also involved the Food Task Force and the Ministry of Transportation to control the movement of livestock in the outbreak areas.