We’ve all been there, returning to Australia from abroad, filling out declaration forms on what we’ve carried home and trying to remember what we’ve packed, and possibly even thinking oh I’m sure that’ll be alright. 

Without sounding like the perennial do-gooder, it’s always best to fess up, and ask is this ok? From experience it often is, and on the occasion that something goes into the biosecurity bin it’s best to remind yourself what’s at stake.

Without sounding dramatic: livelihoods, and the lives of animals.

The current concern around the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesian livestock is a very real concern for Australia’s farmers, and as such scenarios and response plans have been modelled over decades. Commenting while on a recent visit to Sydney International Airport, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and Australia’s Director of Biosecurity, Andrew Metcalfe AO, said “we know an FMD incursion would be utterly devastating for Australian farmers and could cost up to $80 billion to the agricultural sector over ten years.” 

Since foot-and-mouth disease was first detected in Indonesia, Metcalfe also says that there’s been a priority in Australia to “ramp up biosecurity measures,” that have included “new biosecurity officers in airports and mail centres, risk-profiling 100 per cent of passengers that come into Australia from Indonesia, sanitation foot mats in all international airports, and FMD messaging at airports and on returning flights from Indonesia.”

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What is foot-and-mouth disease?

A highly contagious and environmentally resistant viral infection, it can be carried on clothing and footwear, machinery, meat products, and more. “It’s at least as contagious as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in some situations,” writes veterinary public-health expert Professor Michael Ward of The University of Sydney, affecting cloven-hoofed animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, deer, and pigs.

How does foot-and-mouth disease affect animals?

The disease can cause blisters to form in the mouth, nostrils, on the teats, and skin between and above the hoofs of cloven-footed animals. It can cause lower milk yields, reproductive complications, and death in younger animals, amongst other ailments. And while the public health consequences for humans are that infection is unlikely and, writes Ward, “meat and milk from infected livestock are considered safe to consume,” the impact of a disease incursion are severe.

How could foot-and-mouth disease affect the agriculture industry?

Australian livestock would be effectively closed to international markets, and the length of that closure would broadly depend on actions taken to mitigate and control the disease, whether a cull of animals or a programme of vaccination. 

It’s expected that there would be an impact domestically in consumer confidence and behaviour, with a reduction in red meat consumption amongst Australian households. Supply would most likely be affected and in some of our restaurants, where provenance is at the heart of the offering, we’d see the names of many producers disappear from menus. 

Economically the effect would be most acutely felt by farmers, with many generational businesses ruined, and in some cases, herds built over time with much care and consideration decimated. In the wider rural community, there would be an obvious knock-on effect financially, but also socially. 

From a public health perspective, the mental health effects would be significant. Far from conjecture many of these predictions are made based on past outbreaks elsewhere and most significantly in the UK in 2001, when a widespread outbreak resulted in livestock culls, and army intervention to burn and dispose of livestock; not all of which would have been infected. It’s these scenes that play so heavily in the minds of those steeped in rearing livestock.

To combat any incursion of foot-and-mouth disease, as well as other infections, organisations such as Meat and Livestock Australia are working with the Australian and Indonesian governments to provide biosecurity support, and in particular to bolster the capability to track and control livestock movements. That could of course be a case of closing the gate after the horse has bolted. 

How can I help stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease?

There are everyday actions that Meat and Livestock Australia are advising, from declaring on your return to Australia if you’ve visited a rural area or been in contact with, or near, farm animals; asking family and friends overseas not to send dairy or meat products; not buying meat or dairy products online from overseas sellers or bringing them back from overseas travels; cleaning any shoes, clothing or equipment used overseas. 

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