foot-and-mouth disease – Michmutters

Tag: foot-and-mouth disease

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Australia

Farmers concerned at potential foot-and-mouth spread as Australia and Indonesia tackle outbreak

Farmers concerned at potential foot-and-mouth spread as Australia and Indonesia tackle outbreak

Nathaniel Rose kept his shoes and sandals separate from his main baggage as he traveled home from Bali to Melbourne last week.

During his 10-day holiday on the Indonesian island, Mr Rose said he was aware of concerns that tourists visiting Bali might bring foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) back to Australia, including via contaminated soil on footwear.

“I did one trip to Mount Batur that could be considered rural. We walked through the village along the dirt track,” he said.

As per Australian government advice, Mr Rose thoroughly cleaned his footwear before he got on the plane.

“There were foot-and-mouth disease signs at Denpasar Airport,” he said.

“When we got off [the plane] there were biosecurity officers and we had to walk on a disinfectant mat.”

a man smiling close up wearing a glasses
Nathaniel Rose took precautions to ensure he did not bring the disease from Indonesia to Australia.(Supplied)

An outbreak of FMD could devastate Australia’s livestock industries, cost the Australian economy around $80 billion, and lead to many animals being slaughtered to control the disease.

Those potential consequences are why the agriculture industry here has been begun on tenterhooks since an outbreak in Indonesia in May, with some calling for a travel ban.

Farmers and authorities in Indonesia are working hard to contain the virus’s spread, while the Australian government this week committed $10 million towards biosecurity measures in Indonesia to tackle the outbreak.

FMD is a highly contagious animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals and is carried in many ways, including by live animals, in meat and dairy products, soil and untreated hides.

It is commonly spread between animals through inhalation, ingestion and contact with infected animals, but is not to humans, including by eating affected meat.

The virus is different to hand, foot and mouth disease common in children.

Local farmers implement strict controls

FMD Greenfields Farm East Java
Greenfields Indonesia own the biggest dairy farm in East Java.(Supplied: greenfieldsdairy.com)

The outbreak in Indonesia is the biggest since 1990 and is estimated to be costing the local economy $200 million per month.

Since May, 479,000 animals have been infected with FMD in Indonesia.

More than 9,000 animals have been killed to try to control the virus’s spread, while another 5,189 have died from the disease.

The province of East Java currently has the highest number of infections, with a mix of farms in that area, including smaller traditional farms and others run by large companies.

East Java’s biggest dairy farm is owned by Greenfields Indonesia, a company established by a group of Australian and Indonesian entrepreneurs.

Map of FMD cases in Indonesia
The provinces in Indonesia with the most foot-and-mouth cases.(ABC News graphic: Jarrod Fankhauser)

The farm, with 16,000 cattle, has implemented strict biosecurity measures, despite no cases of the virus being detected there.

Richard Slaney, from Greenfields Indonesia, said the company’s cattle underwent frequent health checks and were being vaccinated against the disease.

Mr Slaney said there were also strict controls to clean workers’ dirty clothing and footwear, vehicle tires and animal feed.

“No outside visitors are allowed to come [to the property],” I added.

He said vehicles were sprayed from “top to bottom”.

“All vehicles have gone through an additional cleaning process and very strict controls are also applied to the milk tank transport vehicles,” he said.

Small farmers can’t afford vaccines

a man is feeding his cows in a shed
Robi Gustiar says some farmers are having trouble accessing vaccines.(Supplied)

Robi Gustiar is a cattle farmer and the secretary-general of the Indonesian Cattle and Buffalo Breeders Association that represents small farmers who have between five and 30 cattle.

He said smaller farmers were also doing what they could to control the outbreak.

“For farmers who have up to five cattle, they spray disinfectant in locations around cattle pens and on vehicles.”

He said some farmers were still waiting for vaccines from the government, while medium and larger traditional farmers were proposing to purchase vaccines independently to access them faster.

FMD Greenfields Cows East Java
Larger farms, like the Greenfields farm in East Java, have better access to vaccines.(Supplied: greenfieldsdairy.com)

Mr Gustiar said small farmers could not afford vaccines and distribution was not easy.

“Indonesia is an archipelago country, so transportation is a problem. They [need to] make sure the vaccine is still active when it reaches the cattle,” he explained.

Australian government support for Indonesia announced this week included supplying more vaccines to Indonesia as well as protective equipment, training and expertise.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said $4 million of the $10 million dollars allocated was for vaccine purchasing.

“This is on top of support already announced for Indonesia, which included 1 million doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and almost half a million doses of lumpy skin disease vaccine already committed by the Australian government,” he said.

Disaster authority bolsters Indonesia’s response

a man vaccinating a cow in a shed.
Indonesia has procured 3 million vaccine doses to tackle the disease.(Supplied: FAO Eko Prianto)

According to Indonesia’s Foot and Mouth Taskforce, more than 1.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered to animals.

Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said he hoped that the outbreak would be under control by the end of the year.

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Categories
Australia

Foot-and-mouth disease led to 6 million slaughtered animals in England 21 years ago. Could it happen in Australia?

A man in a green wet weather jacket stands in front of a herd of black and white cows.

Robert Craig’s memories of foot-and-mouth disease tearing through the north of England are more than 20 years old, but they’re as painful as ever.

“It still makes my hair stand on end now,” the dairy farmer said.

“You don’t realize at the time that things do affect you longer term.”

There has not been an outbreak of the disease in Australia for over a century, but cases detected in Indonesia in May have put authorities on high alert, and farmers fear what could happen if the disease lands in Australia.

Foot-and-mouth spreads rapidly between cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. It’s serious and highly contagious.

Warning: This story contains images some readers may find distressing

In February 2001, Robert Craig was raising a young family in Cumbria, which became one of the worst-affected areas during a devastating outbreak of the disease.

It led to the mass slaughter of cows, pigs and sheep.

“I remember being out in the fields, I think spreading fertilizer, and they were rounding up these sheep and lambs and there’s this truck in the gateway,” he told the ABC News Daily podcast.

“Seeing them rounding up newborn lambs and you knew where they were going, that was just hideous. Absolutely hideous.”

Men checking cow carcasses as they are lined up with excavators in the background.
Slaughtered cows in Yorkshire were lined up before they were loaded onto trucks and transported to a burial pit.(Supplied: Bill Sykes)

Mr Craig said he remembers tracking the spread of the disease on a map and watching as it got closer and closer to his own farm.

“There was a real sense of despair. It was hard for people to see at that time how anything could get back to normality because such a huge number of livestock had been taken,” he said.

Over the course of 11 months, more than 6 million cows, sheep and pigs were slaughtered in an effort to contain the spread of the disease, although only a relatively small portion of that number had the infection.

In total 2,000 cases were ultimately confirmed across the UK.

“I don’t know whether it did any good either. There was a fair bit of panic at the time,” Mr Craig said.

“It was just like, removing as much livestock as possible to try and slow [it] down, to get in front of it because it had gotten so badly out of control.

“I don’t know if they even tested these sheep that were taken away.”

Mr Craig was one of the lucky ones whose animals were spared, but his community suffered badly.

“Pretty much all of our neighbors sort of succumbed to it at some point,” he said.

“The whole of our area was pretty much just dead, like no livestock at all.”

Dead cows being sprayed with disinfectant on a farm.
In 2001, destroyed cattle with foot-and-mouth disease were sprayed with disinfectant to stop the spread.(Supplied: Bill Sykes)

Australians sent to help

Australian vet Bill Sykes has similar “life-changing” memories of the time.

The Victorian, who had a background in national disease control and animal slaughtering, was sent to Yorkshire, in northern England, as part of an Australian contingent deployed to help.

“It’s 20 years on, there’s a lot of things I don’t remember since five minutes ago, but these things come back, and they haunt,” he told the ABC News Daily podcast.

Mr Sykes recalls how the abattoir workers would try to calmly gain the trust of bobby calves, or calves less than a month old, before the slaughter.

“The strategy was to put his finger in the calf’s mouth so that it would happily suck and while it was sucking, he’d shoot the animal with a captive bolt pistol, and it would drop and then he’d go to the next one .”

But for him, the destruction of newborn lambs via lethal injection was particularly devastating.

“They went limp in your arms, you put them down and you picked up the next one,” he said.

“And I happened to love little lambs. I found that real, real tough.”

Mr Sykes said the immediate impact of the disease in the countryside was stark.

“At the bottom of the valley, everything is normal, sheep and cattle grazing in the paddocks,” he said.

“By the time we get to the top of the valley there’s nothing there, it’s just an eerie silence. It’s a sea of ​​nothing.”

Two men walk towards green hill, lined with empty paddocks.
The “sea of ​​nothing” remained after neighboring Yorkshire farms had been “slaughtered out”.(Supplied: Bill Sykes)

Australia assesses its preparedness for an outbreak

Bill Sykes, who is also a former regional vet officer in the Victorian Agriculture Department and former Nationals MP, is enraged by reports of Australia’s biosecurity laws being breached.

Foot-and-mouth disease can be carried on meat and animal goods, and in one recent case, a backpacker returned from Indonesia with prohibited meat.

The passenger was fined $2,664 after being detected with undeclared sausage meat and a ham croissant at Darwin airport.

“Just unbelievably dumb. Stupid, thoughtless, call it what you like, but that’s the sort of situation that can occur,” Mr Sykes said.

Foot-and-mouth disease can also spread in air particles between animals situated closely together, through contaminated water and on clothing and footwear.

The risk of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Australia has increased to approximately 12 per cent after the recent spread in Indonesia and its popular tourist island, Bali.

Mr Sykes said vigilance is paramount.

a number of officials in white coats inspecting sick cattle.
Officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture visit a farm in East Java where cattle have foot-and-mouth disease.(Supplied: Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture)

The Australian government has introduced a range of measures to lower the risk of foot-and-mouth disease entering the country.

Biosecurity measures have been ramped up at airports, including installing acidic disinfectant foot mats and increased surveillance on meat products entering the country.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt announced a new task force will also be established to focus on how to best prepare for a potential outbreak.

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Categories
Australia

Going to the Ekka? Here are the best ways to avoid getting sick with COVID-19, monkeypox or the flu

A big crowd of people at the Ekka.

As throngs of people flock to the Ekka showgrounds, authorities are concerned about a potential spike in COVID-19 and influenza cases in the Queensland community.

A string of illnesses remain in the community with COVID cases still high, the flu season not yet over and cases of monkeypox being reported interstate.

With some 1,300 head of cattle at the showgrounds, health authorities have also added a potentially devastating foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak to their list of concerns, though the risk remains low.

Back after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, Ekka crowds have exceeded expectations with people steadily streaming through the gates.

Virologist Lara Herrero said the Ekka event would inevitably lead to a spike in transmission of both COVID and the flu.

“I have absolutely no doubt there will be an increase in transmission for an event like that — it’s simple mathematics,” she said.

Dr Lara Herrero in the lab wearing a lab gown.
Lara Herrero says the Ekka is likely to cause a jump in cases. (Supplied: Griffith University)

So how can you safely hit the Ekka to devour a dagwood dog without getting sick?

Here are Dr Herrero’s five key pieces of advice:

1. Don’t get slack

Dr Herrero reminded those hitting the show to stay vigilant by employing all the usual tactics.

“Monitor for any symptoms at all,” she said.

“Try your best to keep that 1.5 meters of social distancing where you can.

“Bring your own alcohol wipes and hand sanitiser.

“Avoid shaking hands and hugging — I would still opt to first bump or wave.”

2. Wear a mask

People stand in front of toys at a show.
Queenslanders at Brisbane’s Ekka Show — some masked up and others not.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)

You know the drill.

Free masks will be available upon entry to the showgrounds. If in doubt, mask up.

Queensland Agriculture Minister Mark Furner said he was impressed with the “reasonable amount of people wearing a mask”.

“Bring your mask along or get one on entry, make sure your protected and you’ll have no issues,” he said.

Queensland Health has encouraged everyone at the Ekka to wear a face mask, “not only for themselves but for every other person who is there to celebrate safely”.

Dr Herrero said she had no doubt people who live in the regions that come to the Ekka and return home to regional and rural areas will bring infection back with them.

“We have more cases in the city because we have more people, we’re living in a high-density community with more cases.

“So by sheer numbers, I have no doubt transmission on the regions will go up.

“It’s a good idea for those people returning to regional and remote areas to wear a mask for 24-48 hours to stop transmission to vulnerable people”

3. Stay away if unwell

“The Ekka is all about community spirit so if you have any symptoms, no matter how mild, have a bit of community spirit and stay at home,” Dr Herrero said.

Mr Furner advised anyone feeling under the weather to stay well away from the showgrounds, get tested and isolate.

“We don’t want people coming here spreading illness, whether it be the flu or COVID,” he said.

“Keep away if you’re feeling unwell and get tested.”

4. Wash your shoes and clothes of foreign dirt

People look at animals at royal show.
Ekka show visitors should maintain good hand hygiene when playing with the agricultural animals amid fears of a foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak.(ABC News: Marton Dobras)

The Ekka show is the largest showing of stud beef in the southern hemisphere with some 1,300 head of cattle at the showgrounds.

This has sparked fears of a foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak that could cost the industry an estimated $80 billion.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Wyatt estimated there was an 11.6 per cent risk of a potentially devastating outbreak occurring which would trigger a 72-hour national livestock standstill and longer-term movement controls on animals.

A preventive task force has been established with border security on-site.

Dr Herrero strongly advised people who live in agricultural areas to wash their shoes and clothes of dirt or mud from any other agricultural region to avoid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

With one case of monkeypox recorded in Queensland, authorities are also asking patrons to stay vigilant and monitor for symptoms.

5. Get vaccinated

A vial rests on a gause swab with monkeypox written on it
Monkeypox vaccine is not yet available to the Australian public.(Reuters: Given Ruvic)

With a little more than three weeks of winter remaining, most of you would have had your COVID and flu vaccines by now.

the fourth COVID vaccine or “winter shot” is available for all Australians over the age of 30, as well as:

  • People aged 16 years and above who are severely immunocompromised
  • People aged 16 years and above who have a medical condition that increases the risk of severe COVID-19 illness
  • People aged 16 years and above who have disabilities with significant, complex, or multiple health issues, which increase the risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19 infection.

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Categories
Australia

WA biosecurity threats put Ord Valley agricultural region on edge

aerial view of a mango orchard

The recent spread of foot-and-mouth disease to Indonesia is not the only biosecurity battle for which farmers in WA’s easternmost agricultural region are bracing.

As the only growing region in WA that sits on an interstate border, the Ord Valley’s irrigated horticulture, broadacre cropping and sandalwood industries are on high alert as several dangerous pests and plant diseases creep further west.

Located just 40 kilometers from WA’s border with the Northern Territory on the outskirts of Kununurra, it is no stranger to biosecurity incursions.

It’s where the cane toad first crossed into the state more than a decade ago, and where the damaging fall armyworm affected the first WA broadacre crops in 2020.

It’s also close to where myrtle rust was found for the first time two months ago.

It’s feared mango shoot looper and banana freckle disease could be next after they were each detected in the Northern Territory this year.

Promising new project on hold

A man wearing fluoro yellow shirt holding log of wood in a shed
David Brocklehurst says the detection of myrtle rust has put a new project on hold.(ABC Kimberley: Courtney Fowler)

Sandalwood producer Santanol is among the hardest hit by the detection of myrtle rust on an East Kimberley pastoral station in June.

Myrtle rust is a fungal disease that can infect and kill plants in the myrtaceae family, such as eucalypts, bottlebrushes, paperbarks and peppermint trees.

While the disease poses no threat to Santanol’s primary sandalwood operation near Kununurra, a new pilot project targeting the cut flower and aromatic oil markets has been put on hold as a result of its spread to WA.

For commercial reasons, Santanol is remaining tight-lipped on the plant species being used in the pilot, but has confirmed it is part of the myrtaceae family.

Managing director David Brocklehurst said plans to expand the crop into broadacre trials this dry season were now too risky.

“We are very concerned that if the rust gets here and we’ve just planted 100,000 plants, then we would actually end up having nothing,” Mr Brocklehurst said.

“We’re keeping the plants well-quarantined and we’ll just see how this unfolds.”

The Department of Primary Industries said there had been no further detections of myrtle rust since its initial detection in June.

Horticulture sector on alert

Man in blue shirt inspecting green leaves and yellow flowers of mango trees.
Steve Angel is concerned about the detection of mango shoot looper in the Northern Territory.(ABC Kimberley: Stephanie Sinclair)

Meanwhile, the recent spread of mango shoot looper to the Northern Territory and detections of varroa mite in New South Wales has put Ord Valley mango growers on edge.

Mango shoot looper is an invasive pest that attacks mango and lychee plants while the varroa mite targets bees, which play a key role in the pollination of a variety of horticultural crops.

Swag Rural manager Steve Angel, who looks after WA’s biggest mango orchard on the outskirts of Kununurra, said he had limited vehicle movements across the property.

Mr Angel said he was also conducting regular checks of the orchard to ensure there was no sign of the pests.

He said the spread of either disease into WA would be devastating.

“If we didn’t control them and have preventive measures, there would be no sense being here,” Mr Angel said.

“People have got to be on the front foot and be aware, not on the back foot waiting for something, making contingency plans.

“We want to keep it out.”

Quarantined volumes soar

The back of a woman in yellow hi-vis watching a man open an esky in the back of a camper van.
A quarantine inspector checks a vehicle near Kununurra.(ABC Kimberley: Stephanie Sinclair)

Officers at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s quarantine checkpoint near Kununurra are the last line of defense in protecting the region from threats looming across the border.

According to new figures for the 2021-22 financial year, more than 14,000 kilograms of quarantine risk material was detected at the checkpoint, up more than 50 per cent from the previous year.

Supervising inspector Kenneth Bin Jacob said while the lifting of WA’s COVID-19 border restrictions largely contributed to the jump, the long-term trend showed more risk material was collected each year.

“We do see an increase each year — a slight increase,” he said.

“It never really goes backwards.”

Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the state government had increased its biosecurity efforts in response to the outbreaks of plant diseases and pests in the Northern Territory.

“We are very aware of the risks of banana freckle and mango shoot looper and we’re working with the growers to up both our surveillance and our movement control,” she said.

“We’re also developing a broader biosecurity awareness program that we’ll be aiming at the punters, making sure that people understand that they’ve got a role to play.”

The heightened plant biosecurity concerns come at a time when Kimberley pastoralists are on alert for animal infections that have spread to Indonesia, including foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease.

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Categories
Australia

Bull prices up 20 per cent on last year’s sales despite foot-and-mouth disease threat

Four farmers leaning on a fence with pamphlets, looking at bulls in a pen.

Bull sales across New South Wales have exceeded expectations despite the looming threat of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Knowla Livestock, a stud based near Gloucester on the Mid North Coast, sold his top bull for $190,000 — the highest price paid nationally for a bull so far this season.

“It was unbelievable — $40,000 was our top price until this year, so we didn’t only break our own record, we absolutely smashed it,” principal James Laurie said.

The stud sold all of the 82 bulls it put to market for an average price of about $26,500.

Mr Laurie had been concerned sale prices would be adversely affected by the FMD outbreak in Indonesia.

Australia is ramping up biosecurity measures to prevent FMD from crossing the border, which would likely lead to mass culls of infected animals and cause major disruption to the meat and livestock trade.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) estimates an outbreak could cost the country $80 billion over 10 years.

Mr Laurie said with FMD front of mind for many, he was not sure what kind of demand to expect at the sale.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market at the moment, in both the physical market and from these overseas issues, so we were just thinking that might take the edge off it,” he said.

“But the interest we had that came from a lot further afield than what we’ve ever had before — that probably waylaid those fears.”

A group of smiling people wearing hats pose near a large bull.
The Knowla livestock team’s previous record price for a bull was $40,000.(Supplied: James Laurie)

Prices up to 20 per cent

Auction Plus chief economist Tim McRae said the market had experienced a huge jump in prices for bulls compared with last year.

“For July we saw bull prices average 20 per cent above the same time last year — and prices were pretty high last year,” he said.

“But also the clearance rates [were high]so the number of bulls that have been getting sold per auction was well in the 90 per cent area.”

Mr McRae said the conditions over the last two years and rising cattle prices were behind the results.

“The very good seasonal conditions are enabling producers to make long-term decisions,” he said.

“There’s still pretty good confidence [in the industry]barring some of the recent downturns in the commercial market.

“The outlook for the beef industry is still very good and commercial producers are very keen to make sure the genetics they have help them optimize that in years to come.”

A large group of people milling around in a cattle sale yard.
Industry experts and sellers say people have confidence in the future of the beef industry.(Supplied: James Laurie)

Struan Pearce of Stud Stock Sales agreed that concerns about FMD had not impacted sales.

“People are certainly aware of it,” he said.

“But I suppose they can’t just give up on it and concede defeat, so they’ve just got to keep moving forward, purchasing their bulls and new genetics and keep producing the steers that they’re earning their money from.”

Mr Pearce said prices were strong across the country.

“Geographically there’s been some terrific sales up in Queensland, right through NSW into Victoria and South Australia,” he said.

Three men and three women, all smiling and wearing hats.
The Texas Angus crew saw the average price for their bulls rise by $7,000 on last year’s sale.(Supplied: Texas Angus)

record smashed

Recently at Warialda, NSW, a new record was set for the highest grossing single-vendor sale of sheep or cattle in Australia when Texas Angus stud earned a remarkable $5.8 million for its bull and heifer sale.

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Categories
Australia

ADF, Border Force called in as government establishes foot-and-mouth disease task force

A grey-haired, bespectacled man in a dark suit.

The Army is being called in to advise the federal government on Australia’s preparedness for a potential outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Australia has been free of the disease, which affects pigs, goats, cattle and sheep, for more than a century, but an outbreak detected in Indonesia in May has authorities on high alert.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says the new task force will provide urgent advice over the next four weeks on Australia’s response in the event of a potential outbreak.

“The new exotic animal disease preparedness task force will include officials from a range of government departments, including the Australian Defense Force, Australian Border Force and Animal Health Australia,” Senator Watt said in Canberra.

“By bringing together the best expertise from across government, we can ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities if there were to be an outbreak, and that there are no gaps in our response.”

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Categories
Australia

‘The most expensive Maccas meal’: Traveler from Indonesia fined $2664 for undeclared sausage and egg McMuffins at Darwin Airport

'The most expensive Maccas meal': Traveler from Indonesia fined $2664 for undeclared sausage and egg McMuffins at Darwin Airport

A passenger who arrived in Australia from Indonesia has been fined $2,664 for failing to declare McMuffins in their luggage amid an outbreak of foot and mouth disease overseas.

The Labor government has rolled out biosecurity dogs at Darwin and Cairns airports as part of a $14 million package to bolster Australia’s protection from FMD.

Detector dog Zinta inspected the passenger’s backpack at Darwin Airport and found two egg and beef sausage McMuffins from McDonalds in Bali and a ham croissant.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the seized meals would be tested for FMD before being destroyed as Australia remains “FMD-free”.

“This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger ever has, this fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali,” he said in a statement on Monday.

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“But I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia’s strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught.

“Zinta was placed at Darwin Airport as part of the Albanese Government’s tough new biosecurity defences, and it’s excellent to see she is already contributing to keeping the country safe.”

FMD is a highly contagious disease of livestock causing fever followed by the development of vesicles (blisters) in the mouth and on the feet.

Indonesia is currently battling an FMD outbreak, which has sparked fears it could spread to Australia and cripple the $80 billion livestock industry.

The viral disease has also been reported in countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America.

Mr Watt reinforced that biosecurity is “no joke” as goods must be declared to enter Australia.

“Biosecurity is no joke—it helps protect jobs, our farms, food and supports the economy,” he said.

“Passengers who choose to travel need to make sure they are fulfilling the conditions to enter Australia, by following all biosecurity measures.”

FMD affects all cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, goats, camelids, deer and pigs.

The virus is carried by live animals and in meat and dairy products, as well as in soil, bones, untreated hides, vehicles and equipment used with these animals.

The government has rolled out sanitation foot mats at all international airports, along with support on the ground for Indonesia and neighboring countries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is adamant Australia’s strong biosecurity will stop the incursion of foot and mouth disease.

The package contains $9 million for frontline biosecurity and industry preparedness measures.

A further $5 million is used to provide technical expertise and support to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to assist their work in combatting livestock diseases.

“The Federal Government is taking this seriously, and we need every traveler to do their bit too,” Mr Watt said.

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Categories
Australia

Cattle arrive for the Ekka as organizers ramp up biosecurity measures against foot-and-mouth disease

A boy wearing a cowboy hat stands next to a cow

While fears of foot-and-mouth disease loom over the Ekka, organizers and breeders say “very comprehensive” plans are in place to limit risk.

Cattle began arriving yesterday for the stud beef competition, the largest annual showing of stud beef in the southern hemisphere.

Around 1,300 head of cattle are expected to attend the show, which runs from August 6 to 14.

Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) chief executive Brendan Christou said organizers were working closely with authorities.

A man holding the reins of a cow at the Ekka
The threat of FMD has not stopped many from bringing cattle to the show.(ABC News: Elizabeth Cramsie )

“Biosecurity Queensland will be here, onsite, throughout the show and we have our own vet committee that looks at all of those things as well,” he said.

Mr Christou said there were a range of measures being taken, including ensuring animals were healthy before their arrival, separation of breeds and use of foot baths.

“It is very comprehensive,” he said.

‘Very minimal risk’

However, for all the precautions, some breeders are still unwilling to take the risk.

Breeder Bronwyn Betts will be missing her first Ekka in more than a decade

“We were just concerned about the risk of foot-and-mouth disease, notwithstanding that that risk is low. The potential consequences can be quite dire,” she said.

Bronwyn Betts patting a cow.
Bronwyn Betts is sitting out the Ekka this year.(ABC news: Elizabeth Pickering)

Ms Betts said the Ekka and shows like it brought greater risk than other sales meet-ups because of the large presence of the public.

“Just in terms of the demographics of people [who] are there. At a sale, you’re largely going to get cattle people that are going to be coming in from cattle properties. They’ll be cognisant of foot-and-mouth [risk] and they will have taken measures,” she said.

“But that’s different from a show where there’s larger numbers of [the] public [who] are entering into an area, and they may well include some people [who] have recently returned from the popular holiday destination of Bali.

“I think there needs to be a lot more public education about what foot-and-mouth disease is, how it enters our country but, also, once it does, how it moves around, because the reality is that people play a big role in that.”

At the Ekka, cattle breeder Jason Childs said he felt enough precautions were being taken.

“Foot and mouth has been around the world for a long time and it hasn’t managed to get into Australia yet and it’s not in Australia yet,” he said.

“I think the risk here is very, very minimal.”

What is foot-and-mouth disease?

Foot and mouth (FMD) affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, pigs, goats and deer.

It causes fever and painful blisters on the animals’ tongues and hooves, which can make animals lick.

While Australia has been FMD-free for more than 100 years, the disease was detected in Indonesia in May and, by July, it had spread to Bali, sparking concerns it could be brought back by tourists.

It is not dangerous to humans, but people can facilitate the spread through products containing fragments of the disease or through dirty clothes and footwear.

A foot and mouth disease blister on the tongue of an animal with FMD.
FMD causes blisters on the tongues of infected animals.(Supplied: Agriculture Victoria)

FMD also spreads through close contact between animals and can be carried short distances by wind.

An outbreak in Australia would likely lead to mass culls of infected animals. It would also rob the country of its status as being free of FMD, causing major disruption to the meat and livestock trade.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) estimates an outbreak could cost the country $80 billion over 10 years.

A person in black leather shoes walks over a wet black mat.
People arriving on flights from Indonesia are asked to walk on citric acid mats to kill the FMD virus.(Supplied: Perth Airport)

After Indonesia’s outbreak spread to Bali, the federal government introduced extra measures at airports to stop it spreading to Australia.

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Australia

Darwin traveler fined over undeclared fast food from Bali amid foot-and-mouth disease concerns

a black dog with a read coat with "biosecurity" written on it.

A traveler from Indonesia has been fined thousands of dollars for sneaking two beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant into Australia.

Passengers returning from Indonesia have been facing tougher biosecurity checks, after the detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cows in Bali.

The highly contagious disease, which is yet to reach Australia, affects cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and the virus would have severe consequences for the nation’s animal health and trade.

A biosecurity detector dog at Darwin airport sniffed out the fast food meat products in a passenger’s backpack last week, with the traveler fined $2,664.

The pork and beef snacks were seized and will be tested for foot-and-mouth disease, before being destroyed.

An outbreak of the disease in Indonesia has prompted Australian biosecurity officials to categorize some meat products as “risk items”.

A long line at the Darwin Airport check-in counter during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Biosecurity measures have ramped up since foot-and-mouth disease was detected in Bali.(ABC News: Michael Franchi)

Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt, said he wanted Australia to stay free of the disease.

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