FMD in Pahang - TV3

I saw it, I mean the news about some cattle falling sick, on TV3 8 o'clock news.

At first I thought, as usual, that it must be cattle with FMD in Kelantan.

I was dead wrong. They were Pahang cattle. A Mak Cik from Kg Padang complained, as-a-matter-of-factly, that she had contacted our office in Kuantan and a lady told her that the veterinarian was out of town!

That was bad, man! The news must have attracted many as it was shown on primetime news TV3.

I was right. At 8.44 pm there it was, an sms from SS asking me the reason for the delay.

I frantically contacted everybody - Dr Aisah, Dr Wan Zarina and Zaiha, but nobody answered my call.

Where have all of them gone?

Finally I caught Dr Aisah. She told me that she had confirmed with Kuantan that they have never received report of the case.

I then confidently answered SS's sms telling him that we never received the report as claimed by the Mak Cik.

The next morning (today) I arrived early in office. I immediately called Dr Aisah, Dr Wan Zarina and others for a quick meeting.

A quick check with the telephonist confirmed that somebody had indeed contacted her about the outbreak, but she naively told that the officer was not in. She was in a SMVP workshop.

Two teams were then immediately ordered to the area.

That Mak Cik at first scolded the district team - "Why only now when it was out on TV3, you all come ?"

When Dr Aisah's team arrived at the scene, she was more friendly. "Why don't you tell me earlier that you're coming? I could have asked a man to build the crush for you."

That was fast. That was how to calm down a woman. We have to be smart to tackle such a person.

I then 'sms'ed SS assuring him that we had gone there and did all that we could do to help and stop the disease from spreading.

Thirteen cattle contracted the disease and all were given antibiotic shots. The area was disinfected with lindores. No animal movement in or out of the area order was given to prevent spread of the disease.

Most probably the outbreak was an extension from the January outbreak in Pancing Selatan.