Page 19 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Australia fights to stave off
foot and mouth disease
AUSTRALIA is cur- lance is being increased to provide farmers with In play there also are
rently fighting to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and north Queensland – and travellers are being tar- geted to prevent them bringing in contaminated products.
financial assistance to help implement these practices. Thankfully, the country has regimented bio-
COVID-19 pandemic could prove to have been useful preparation for countering FMD, ac- cording to Professor Tim Mahony from the Centre for Animal Science at the University of Queens- land’s research institute Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food In- novation.
disinfectant mats, an audit of the palm kernel supply chain in Indonesia and the formation of a biosecurity taskforce.
This is a highly infec- tious disease that affects and spreads between cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, causing lesions that stop livestock from walking to food and water.
security processes. Dealing with the
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said, “We have wasted no time in getting on top of this issue and have been consistently ramping up measures at our airports and mail centres around the country.”
Grown animals will mostly recover but younger ones can die or be left with permanent and disabling deformities.
The full list of measures being taken is available from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
An outbreak of FMD was reported in May in cattle in Indonesia, a major trading partner with Aus- tralia.
FMD is concerning be- cause it has the potential to cripple agricultural in- dustries, not only because it would vastly reduce stock of healthy farmable animals but also because it would challenge Aus- tralia’s current status of being entirely free of the disease, which is a trading advantage for the nation.
Minister Watt pointed out that this was the strongest biosecurity re- sponse in Australia’s his- tory.
Foot and mouth blisters. Photo: Agriculture Victoria.
Viral particles from the disease were subsequently discovered in pork im- ported from China.
“In a way, the COVID pandemic has prepared Australia for FMDV,” Prof Mahony said.
“We have already an- nounced a $14 million as- sistance package to reduce the risk of FMD spreading from Bali to Australia, which included increased detection and protection here in Australia and a million vaccines for the In- donesian cattle industry,” Minister Watt said.
In response to this, var- ious measures have been taken by state and terri- tory governments to pre- vent the outbreak of foot and mouth disease virus reaching our shores.
Meat & Livestock Aus- tralia recommends that those in the sector stay vigilant, look for signs of the disease and report sus- pected cases to the govern- ment’s Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.
“People are more aware of viruses, diagnostic as- says, epidemiology, et ce- tera and similar concepts will apply to controlling FMDV.
Imports of meat into Australia are being moni- tored – disease surveil-
“As with the pandemic, all Australians have a role to play in minimising this threat.
Calls have been made
“Susceptible animals are not imported into Aus- tralia – the most likely scenario of FMDV get- ting into the country is someone bringing it in.
“I also announced the deployment of sanitisa- tion foot mats at all in- ternational airports as an additional layer of protec- tion for returning travel- lers from Indonesia.
“This is why we have such strong biosecurity at our international borders.”
“These mats have started to arrive in some airports around the country ... and passengers will begin seeing them at customs in the coming days.”
Blisters on hooves. Photo: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Measures have now been put in place in airports to mitigate the chance of the disease moving into and within Australia’s borders.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected calls for the country to close its borders to Indo- nesia to prevent an out- break here.
The most likely scenario of the disease getting into Australia is by someone bringing it in.
New Zealand has in- troduced measures too, with incoming travellers banned from bringing meat products from Indo- nesia.
Blisters on snout. Photo: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
These include the estab- lishment of Biosecurity Response Zones as well as the use of specialised sanitisation foot mats.
The aim is to prevent any contaminated meat en- tering the country through airports while there is a still an outbreak impacting Indonesia.
Unfortunately for pri- mary producing indus- tries, this is not the only disease outbreak that is being dealt with in Aus- tralia, with thousands of bees being destroyed to prevent the spread of the highly damaging Varroa mite.
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Australian Pork Newspaper, August 2022 – Page 19
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