Jakarta (ANTARA) – The oral and nail diseases detected in 1,247 heads of cattle in East Java are different from SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 and was transmitted by bats to humans, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.
“The oral and nail diseases only transmit to animals with two claws. It is very rare (for them) to transmit to humans. The public does not need to worry,” Sadikin informed at a virtual press conference on Monday.
According to minister, the oral and nail diseases that are affecting over one thousand livestock in East Java have a low chance of transmitting to humans.
The diseases are dominant in animals and have zero chance of transmission to humans.
Oral and nail diseases are very contagious in animals, he said.
The diseases are almost similar to human diseases that affect the feet, mouth, and hands.
“But this is also different from the oral and nail disease in children,” the minister said.
Foot and mouth disease is an acute animal disease that afflicts livestock, such as cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep, horses, and pigs. It has a transmission rate of 90-100 percent.
According to data from the Eas Java provincial government through the Directorate General of Livestock Health at the Agriculture Ministry, clinical signs of the disease in livestock populations included high fever in the range of 39-41 degrees Celsius, excessive mucus discharge from the mouth and foaming, sores in the form of canker sores in the oral cavity and tongue, refusal to eat, and limping leg.
The other signs were leg wounds that ended with loose nails, difficulty in standing, trembling, rapid breathing pace, declined milk production, and weight loss.
The East Java administration has temporarily closed cattle markets in four districts — Mojokerto, Sidoarjo, Gresik, and Lamongan — following the detection of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the livestock population.
The decision to close the cattle markets was taken during a meeting on Saturday (May 7) in which they chalked out measures to prevent the disease from spreading.
Source: Antara News