Australian businesses plan to arm themselves against foot-and-mouth-disease
It’s not just Aussie farmers planning for foot-and-mouth disease, businesses nationwide from zoos to gas companies are planning for the catostrophic threat of the disease entering our borders.
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It’s not just farmers across the country who are putting plans in place to combat foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
Businesses from zoos to natural gas exploration companies are implementing changes to protect against the threat of FMD.
Veterinary science expert Dr Sarah-Jane Wilson has been advising oil and gas exploration company Santos to bulk up its biosecurity defences. She says it is important for non-agricultural companies to get on top of their processes.
“Santos have negotiated access to properties and farms through their pipelines and exploration,” she said.
“They need to consider the pests and weeds they can suppress but also now with the proximity of FMD, where their staff are travelling on their days off and what they could potentially bring back.”
Santos is now banning all travellers returning from Indonesia from entering field locations for seven days.
They will also ban all clothing from Indonesia on their sites.
For Dr Wilson, the importance of protecting Australia’s farms cannot be overstated.
“It would have a massive impact on farming communities,” she said.
“Not just the impact directly on the livestock getting sick but the time it would take us to regain international trade markets, which could be ten years.”
The latest government estimate is the economic impact of a countrywide FMD outbreak could cost the Australian economy $80 billion over a decade.
According to Dr Wilson enforcing biosecurity measures has gotten a lot easier since Covid as we’re all so used to it.
“People actually know what biosecurity is now and what an epidemiologist does,” she said.
“Heightened awareness means they’re being more reactive or proactive towards managing it.”
‘Plan for the worst’: UK, Australia launch briefing over border control
The launch of an international briefing between UK and Australian dignitaries is a timely and defensive boost for our agricultural industry as they face the catastrophic threat of major livestock loss if disease breaks through the borders.
Deputy Premier Paul Toole and Agriculture
Minister Dugald Saunders combined with UK officials, Chief Veterinary Officer, Professor Christine Middlemiss and Exotic Disease Policy Adviser, Gordan Hickman, to learn lessons from the outbreaks that ravaged through their country in 2001 and 2007.
Mr Tool underlined the importance of having the appropriate contingency plans set in place in case of an Australian outbreak.
“We do need to be prepared for the worst, which is why we’ve had teams at the Department of Primary Industries reviewing contingency plans and ensuring we can mobilise every resource we need when it’s needed and go straight into action,” he said.
“It’s why we’ve already mobilised vets and specialist staff to make sure producers know the signs of FMD and how to report it and why we’re upping surveillance by LLS vets.”
Dugald Saunders vowed to learn from Professor Middlemiss and Mr Hickman’s experiences to ultimately ensure the country is best prepared for the worst.
“There are big lessons for Australia to learn from the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in the UK in 2001 and 2007,” he said.
“The key points I took away from the briefing were to plan for the worst and prepare early, continue to work closely with industry and farmers to be ready for an outbreak and to identify and close any gaps in our biosecurity response plans.”
The agriculture minister was confident that electronic developments that have been implemented since the 2007 disaster in England will further prevent an outbreak of FMD across our shores.
“It also reinforced for me the importance of us pushing ahead with electronic ID for sheep and goats – it’s something the UK didn’t have in 2001 and that’s been a huge boost to their biosecurity system since.”
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