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JAKARTA (Indonesia), July 10 (AP) — An outbreak of a foot-and-mouth disease disrupted animal slaughter ceremonies to mark Eid al-Adha, as millions of Muslims across Indonesia celebrated Sunday, one of the biggest festivals in the Islamic calendar. one.
Eid al-Adha, known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” is a revered celebration that coincides with the final rites of Saudi Arabia’s annual Hajj. It is a joyous time, food is a sign, and devout Muslims buy and slaughter animals and share two-thirds of their meat with the poor.
Much of Asia, including Indonesia, India and Pakistan, observes Eid al-Adha on Sunday, while Muslims in other parts of the world, including in countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Kenya and Yemen, also celebrate it on Saturday.
But this year, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease — an acute, highly contagious viral disease of artiopods that sometimes spreads to humans — has greatly dampened Indonesia’s usually booming holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep, and the world’s population Most Muslim country.
Foot-and-mouth disease is again spreading rapidly in Indonesia, which has not had an outbreak for 32 years. The government is grappling with the growing numbers, forming a task force and ordering the culling of nearly 3,000 infected livestock.
As of Sunday, more than 336,000 animals in 21 provinces had been infected, mostly on the most populous islands of Java and Sumatra. At least 2,000 animals have died from the disease, according to official figures from the National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Task Force.
While foot-and-mouth disease is not generally considered a threat to human health, it can be deadly to animals, and outbreaks have dampened enthusiasm for sacrifice. The country’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has told Muslims that they should not force themselves to sacrifice cattle during the outbreak.
“I have cancelled my plan to buy goats on the Day of Sacrifice because I am afraid of the impact of foot-and-mouth disease on us humans,” said Tatu Allya, a resident of the capital Jakarta. She said her family would buy a goat or a cow every Eid al-Adha before the outbreak resurfaced.
The government has warned all cattle farmers and traders to ensure that the cattle they sell are free of disease, ordered slaughterhouses to kill and bury all animals showing symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease, and vaccinate susceptible animals.
Airlangga Hartarto, the coordinating minister for economic affairs, said the government had prepared about 3 million doses of the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine, mostly from France. As of Sunday, more than 400,000 animals had been vaccinated, and the Agriculture Department said it had distributed medicines, antibiotics, vitamins, immune boosters and disinfectants to farmers and breeders.
Syauki Maulana, one of the sellers who vaccinated his animals, said his business has suffered this year as he lost many customers. Before the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, he was able to sell more than 60 goats, sheep and cows two weeks before Eid al-Adha, even during the coronavirus pandemic.
But on the eve of Eid al-Adha, he sold only 28 of his animals without foot-and-mouth disease despite large banners at a makeshift cattle, sheep and goat stall in Tangerang, a suburb of Jakarta. animal.
“I’ve done everything I can to keep my cattle healthy, but buyers are still worried about infection and rising prices,” Maurana said, adding that animal feed, vitamins and transportation were becoming more expensive.
Like the rest of the world, Indonesia is struggling to emerge from a recession brought on by the pandemic. The war in Ukraine and soaring energy and food prices are complicating this recovery.
The government has eased restrictions and the return of the Eid homecoming tradition has excited people in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation of more than 270 million people, as family gatherings and gatherings with friends are now on people’s lists.
In the streets of the Indonesian capital Jakarta and in mosques across the city, many worshippers still wearing masks prayed side by side and did not maintain physical distancing.
Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic story of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he made the sacrifice, God offered a ram as a sacrifice. In both Christian and Jewish stories, Abraham was ordered to kill another son, Isaac. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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