Materia Medica Malaysiana

Move to ensure M'sia is FMD disease-free

KLUANG: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry wants cattle breeders to upgrade their farm management systems to enable Malaysia to be free from the foot-and-mouth disease.
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his Ministry would study the prospect of further tightening the quarantine control procedures to ensure the disease did not spread to other areas.
The Ministry took a serious view of the disease and had taken appropriate measures for the country to be declared free of the disease, he told reporters at the signing of agreements for modern agriculture projects, here, Saturday.
Muhyiddin, who did not specify the deadline to realise the objective of the country to be declared foot-and-mouth disease-free, said as part of efforts to upgrade farm management systems, cattle rearers would be asked to prepare periodic reports on the health status of their livestock.
This would ensure frequent checks on the animals' health condition to ensure they were free from any disease, he said.
He said tightening of existing quarantine control procedures was to ensure there was no "leakage" of infected farms to other areas.
On Monday, the Johor Veterinary Services Department discovered a calf to be infected with the foot-and-mouth disease at an oil palm estate at Km 1, Jalan Renggam to Simpang Renggam.