Indonesia launches livestock vaccinations as foot and mouth disease spreads

Jakarta: Indonesia has launched a vaccination programme to contain an outbreak of foot and mouth disease that has spread to 11 provinces and infected thousands of livestock, an official said on Tuesday.

Data from the National Animal Health Information system showed 338 livestock were killed and 14,630 others have been infected by the disease since first case was recorded in December.

"Our strategy is through livestock vaccination of healthy animals to provide immunity against the disease," the agriculture ministry's director of animal health, Imron Suandy, told Reuters.

The increase in cases was due to unvaccinated livestock, high inter-regional livestock traffic and extreme weather changes that affected their immunity, he said.

The central government has allocated 4 million doses of vaccine, prioritising breeding areas with higher cases, including on Java island and several other provinces.

In 2022, more than 455,000 livestock were infected with foot and mouth disease. According to government data, there were 4,720 animals killed and 7,561 more were slaughtered.

Last week, Indonesia encouraged domestic cattle ranchers to import breeding cows, targeting 400,000 head in 2025, to supply meat and milk for the government's free school meals programme.