Anthrax fear hits milk suppliers in Bogor
Anthrax fear hits milk suppliers in Bogor
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Amid public fears over the recent outbreak of anthrax in Bogor,
vendors and suppliers of milk in the Bogor municipality have
suffered losses as customers shun their products.
"Many of my customers have stopped buying milk from me. Even
if they do buy it, they always ask whether the milk is infected
with anthrax or not," a milk vendor, Muhidin, said on Thursday.
"I usually sell 35 liters of milk daily but now I can only
sell 27 liters," said Muhidin, who has been a milk vendor since
1964.
News of the latest anthrax outbreak became public on Tuesday,
when the media reported that five employees of a livestock farm
in Kebonpedes, Bogor regency, had been infected by the disease
after they slaughtered a sick cow on July 28. Another employee
was later also found to be infected by the virus.
Another milk vendor, Yusuf Mustofa, 39, shared a similar
experience, saying that her earnings had dropped from Rp 40,000
to Rp 20,000.
Yusuf bought the milk from the breeding farm owned by Sukarja,
next to the one owned by Uci, whose employees were infected by
the anthrax virus.
Meanwhile Bogor Milk Producers' Cooperative (KPS) manager
Bintarso admitted the sale of milk had been affected. But he said
sales had returned to normal after laboratory testing showed that
the milk was not infected.
He said cooperative members sold 6,000 liters of milk to
Indomilk a day and between 3,000 liters and 4,000 liters to
Diamond Ice Cream. They also send the milk to a cosmetics factory
and a sweets factory which each need about 850 liters per week.
Bintoro said the Husbandry and Fishery Agency in Bogor regency
issued a letter on Aug. 1 stipulating the regency be on alert for
the virus.
He said that the letter was addressed to all members and
executives of KPS and another cooperative called Giri Tani
Cisarua. The agency said the two cooperatives were not allowed to
get new cattle without certification issued by local officials or
veterinarians.