Clinical Examination of Foot and Mouth Disease of Dairy Cows in Sukamurni, Cilawu, Garut, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, pigs, and other animals with cloven hooves. It is a transboundary animal disease that seriously affects livestock productivity and disrupts trade in live animals and animal products worldwide. Indonesia was declared free of FMD in 1986, then vaccination and FMD vaccine production were banned. In April 2022, FMD was detected in cattle in some provinces in Indonesia, including West Java. This study investigated the clinical signs of FMD-positive dairy cows from 20 to 30 May 2022, in Sukamurni village. A total of 284 dairy cows were confirmed FMD by the laboratory and investigated for their clinical signs by direct examination and questionnaire. The result revealed lactating cows account for 42.6% of total positive cases, followed by pregnant cows (24.3%) and calves (11.27%). The main clinical signs were lameness (including lesions on foot) and excessive salivation (77.27%). Milk production was decreased on day 3 and returned to normal on day 10 after infection. Most cows reported clinical signs up to 3-4 weeks. In conclusion, these results suggest that lameness and excessive salivation are the most common clinical signs of FMD in dairy cows.