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| UMM moved quickly to deal with Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in livestock. (Photo: Istimewa) |
The University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) is moving quickly to deal with Mouth and Nail Diseases (FMD) in livestock. The White Campus already has a special task force (Satgas) team that will jump in and assist farmers in dealing with the outbreak. This team is under the coordination of the Livestock Service Office or related agencies in the district or city.
The head of the PMK UMM task force, Prof. Dr. drh. Lili Zalizar, M.S., said that until now, his party has also provided education related to PMK to livestock students at the White Campus. "Many of the students whose parents' jobs are farmers. So they can provide understanding to residents in their area so that their livestock do not contract this virus," she added when we met on Saturday (18/6).
Her team has also provided consultation to local farmers. Although limited, the assistance is felt to be a step toward reducing the number of PMK transmissions. Lili, as she is familiarly called, also often provides understanding and direction to respond to questions from students or residents whose livestock suffer from this disease.
The UMM Task Force team could not move directly without instructions from the livestock service. This is because the spread of the FMD virus is easily contagious and very fast. It is feared that handling without coordination will make its reach even more out of control.
"Indeed, there is a prohibition from the service to go directly without coordination. So, we await instructions from the livestock service or related agencies to carry out further handling. Only veterinarians can handle it directly. Students are not allowed to participate in handling. It is only allowed to participate in recording and handling," she added.
Furthermore, Lili said her team of lecturers, veterinarians, and students would immediately go directly to the field next week. She is starting with efforts to vaccinate livestock in several areas in Malang. In addition, UMM White Campus has also opened a call center and service for handling PMK complaints about outsiders. That way, farmers can quickly get information and how to handle livestock infected with FMD.
"Moreover, the UMM team has been filled with veterinarians and experts with good knowledge. This is our concrete form to help breeders who have difficulty handling livestock infected with the FMD virus," she added.
Regarding treatment, the member of the PMK UMM Task Force, Dr. drh. Imbang Dwi Rahayu, M.Kes. explained that there are several things that farmers can do. I am starting with spraying disinfectant in the cage every morning and evening, which should also enforce restrictions on the movement of livestock and people.
"A virus causes this disease, so there is no medicine that can kill the virus. We can give antibiotics to prevent secondary infections from getting worse. It takes more patience in treating the injuries suffered by livestock," she explained.
Imbang, often called, also suggested that farmers take the time to give vitamins and feed animals with soft foods. So that livestock nutrition and nutritional intake can still be done even though they are attacked by disease and a way so that the livestock owned energy. Based on the data, so far, there are more than 7,500 cattle infected. Three hundred ninety of them recovered, and 44 died.
"This epidemic has caused considerable losses. The body weight of infected cattle can decrease by 10-15 percent. Meanwhile, production can drop by 30-80 percent for dairy cows. Even if you attack a calf, the chances of death are even greater," she concluded. (apg/Will)
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