Indonesian officials say they hope to bring the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak under control by the end of the year through the rollout of vaccinations.
Indonesia's Foot-and-Mouth Disease Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito told international media there had been more than 450,000 cases of FMD confirmed or suspected across 22 of the country's 37 provinces.
Professor Adisasmito said there had been no new reported infections in four of the 22 affected provinces, including Bali, where all 556 infected cattle have died or been slaughtered.
"We are very confident that the increase in cases will be under control soon," he said.
He said Indonesia's response to the FMD outbreak included increased biosecurity, treatment, testing, vaccinations and slaughtering of livestock.
Indonesia has procured 3 million vaccines, with more than 840,000 doses administered in affected areas so far, in the first phase of a two-step vaccination program.
"As part of efforts to suppress the transmission we are actively vaccinating the healthy livestock."
Locally manufactured vaccines to be developed
The Indonesian government has allocated a budget to procure 29 million doses by the end of the year.
The bulk will be imported but Professor Adisasmito said the Indonesian government was also supporting the development of locally manufactured vaccines.
"We know the availability of the vaccines at this moment in the world, is not too many, but Indonesia is trying to get access to the vaccines.
"Hopefully starting September several companies or institutions will be able to have the local FMD vaccines."
Last month, Australian announced it would provide Indonesia with one million doses of FMD vaccine as part of $1.5 million in assistance measures.
Professor Adisasmito said Indonesia was in discussions with Australia about supporting the genomic surveillance of the virus within Indonesia.
Is FMD under control in Bali?
This week reports that Indonesia had brought FMD under control in four provinces, including Bali, were met with skepticism from Australian experts.
Peter Windsor, professor emeritus at the University of Sydney, has worked for many years on foot-and-mouth disease in South-East Asia.
He said there needed to be more surveillance and testing to support these claims.
"FMD is a very insidious disease, especially in developing countries where animals are being slaughtered, " Professor Windsor said.
"It could be quite possible that people were not reporting the disease or not even recognising it."
In response to questions about the current status of the outbreak in Bali, Professor Adisasmito said they did not believe FMD had been eradicated, but there had been no new cases discovered during the latest reporting periods.
"Of course the virus can still be circulating in the environment, which is why surveillance is important...hopefully later on the area will be free of the virus."
The Indonesian government has offered financial support to farmers whose infected livestock had been slaughtered by authorities to help stop the spread of the virus.
"The government is very concerned about the economy of the people, especially the farmers," Professor Adisasmito said.
He said added biosecurity measures had also been introduced in several Indonesian airports and ports, including Bali, where sanitation foot mats had been rolled out.
Call for screening of all passengers
Meanwhile, in Australia, the National Farmers' Federation is calling for screening of every passenger entering Australian airports from Indonesia.
"It's not good enough to hear stories of people coming through customs without being questioned, we urge government to step up in that space," NFF president Fiona Simson said.
