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Australia

Foot-and-mouth disease threat prompts Victoria to form emergency animal disease task force

Beef cattle line up under a blue sky

The Victorian government will establish an Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) task force to prepare for an incursion of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which is currently circulating through parts of Indonesia.

The task force would be co-chaired by Agriculture Victoria chief executive officer Matt Lowe and the Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp, taking advice from Victoria’s Chief Veterinarian Graeme Cooke.

The Australian government has ramped up biosecurity measures to prevent foot-and-mouth and lumpy skin disease entering the country, since it was discovered in Bali, Indonesia a month ago.

Experts fear the exotic livestock diseases could cost the economy billions if it made it into Australia.

“We want to get a focus and targeted government response to a whole range of things we need to put in place in terms of being prepared and to prevent an outbreak,” Victorian Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney said.

“[The task force] will be looking at things like developing an EAD response plan and will also be looking at access to sufficient personal protective equipment and the supply chain issues that we have in respect to testing, tracing, destruction, disposal and vaccination.”

‘No delay’ in task force formation

Ms Tierney said there had been a “lot of work already underway” that would help mitigate any EAD threats, including coordinating with the national process for service and infrastructure continuity.

a cow, with someone holding its tongue out.
The symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease on the tongue of an Indonesian cow.(Supplied: Dok. Kementan)

“It’s clear that there is anxiety within the farming community, people are wanting to know more and we’ve been able to give very practical advice through webinars,” she said.

“This is a good time [to] have those conversations at a grassroots level that give farmers the opportunity to turn that anxiety into very positive practical measures.

“We have a very clear understanding of what the risks are and what we need to do to ramp things up to ensure our preparedness is the best it could possibly be.”

Three hundred biosecurity staff were being trained through Agriculture Victoria to prepare for an FMD outbreak in the state, learning about scenario planning and emergency exercises.

Ms Tierney said despite Indonesia having FMD present in the country for months, the taskforce was a “rapid response”.

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Categories
Australia

McDonald’s breakfast costs Aussie traveler $2664 after airport dog catches the scent

McDonald's breakfast costs Aussie traveler $2664 after airport dog catches the scent

A detector dog at Darwin Airport has sniffed out a stowaway McDonald’s breakfast in the backpack of an Aussie traveler flying home from Bali – leaving him with a $2664 fine.

The penalty for the undeclared meat and dairy products is part of the active biosecurity efforts being made to stop foot and mouth disease (FMD) from entering the country.

Watch the video above for more on this story

For more Travel related news and videos check out 7Travel >>

“Two egg and beef sausage McMuffins from McDonald’s in Bali and a ham croissant” were the offending menu items that caught the attention of biosecurity sniffer dog Zinta, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Murray Watt told 7NEWS.com.au in a statement.

Stopping the food groups from entering the country is just one of several measures the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is cracking down on to mitigate the biosecurity threat.

“Detector dog Zinta responded to a passenger’s backpack and, after further inspection, it was found they were carrying a variety of risk items,” Watt said.

“This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger ever has.

“This fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia’s strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught.”

McMuffins from a Bali McDonald’s cost one Australian traveler more than twice the price of his flight after he failed to declare the potential biosecurity threat. Credit: Supplied

He was issued a “12-unit infringement notice for failing to declare potential high biosecurity risk items and providing a false and misleading document”.

The undeclared food was inspected for FMD and destroyed.

“Biosecurity is no joke—it helps protect jobs, our farms, food and supports the economy. Passengers who choose to travel need to make sure they are fulfilling the conditions to enter Australia, by following all biosecurity measures,” Watt said.

Indonesian authorities confirmed on July 5 that there had been an FMD outbreak in livestock, and as Australia is FMD-free, authorities are being extra vigilant at the border.

The disease “can survive in meat and dairy products even if they are frozen, chilled or freeze-dried,” the department said.

Zinta the biosecurity detector dog has been assigned the job of tracking down potential carriers of foot and mouth disease before they enter the country. Credit: Supplied

The infringement notice cost more than the man’s flights, but that is the standard cost of failing to declare biosecurity risks at the border.

Travelers who are entering Australia on temporary visas could also risk them being cancelled, ensuring they cannot enter the country.

“Travellers arriving from Indonesia will be under much stricter biosecurity scrutiny due to the presence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia, including at the popular tourist destination Bali,” the department said in a statement.

The Albanese government last month announced a $14 million biosecurity package.

It has also rolled out biosecurity dogs at Darwin and Cairns airports, as well as sanitation and on-ground support at Australian and international airports.

Comedian spots bizarre Bunnings apron detail.

Comedian spots bizarre Bunnings apron detail.

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Categories
Australia

The mystery surrounding Australia’s ancient wild and endangered macadamia trees

Two men stand down hill next to a sign in front of a wild macadamia tree with rainforest behind them.

Ian McConachie is eager to find the answer to an ancient mystery — just how many hundreds of years do Australia’s wild macadamias live?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.

After decades of visiting a precious remnant of the threatened species’ habitat in Queensland’s Amamoor State Forest, the founder of the Macadamia Conservation Trust has already discovered that looks can be deceiving.

“So many people are familiar with the macadamia but to see it in the rainforests is just quite mind-boggling,” Mr McConachie AM said.

“It’s nothing like you would expect, they hide amongst all the other trees.”

Living time capsules

An older man in a cardigan looks down at the serrated leaves of a wild macadamia tree that doesn't even reach his chest.
Ian McConachie AM says this macadamia tree hasn’t grown in over 40 years.(Rural ABC: Jennifer Nichols)

A self-described “macadamia dinosaur”, retired food scientist, field researcher, grower and passionate historian, Mr McConachie singled out a spindly chest-high tree, as a perfect example of how even a small plant could potentially be hundreds of years old.

“It’s only got about 18 leaves. I first saw it 1979 and between 1979 and now, it has not grown at all. It’s sitting in the rainforest in dense shade, just waiting until it receives light,” he said.

The oldest European-planted macadamia tree has been growing in Brisbane’s Botanic gardens since 1858 and still bears a healthy crop of nuts.

Craig Hardner dwarfed by the oldest known cultivated macadamia tree.
Craig Hardner says this is the oldest-known European-cultivated macadamia tree in the world.(Supplied: UQ)

“One of the initiatives we’re taking is we’re starting to do radiocarbon dating of trees in the rainforest so we can see just what their longevity is and how old they might be,” Mr McConachie said.

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