As the UK learned in a painful way in 2001, an FMD outbreak has the potential to cause widespread disruption to the food supply chain - leaving both farmers and consumers in the lurch, writes Western Australian Farmers Federation CEO Trevor Whittington.
The fact is that if a live version of the virus is detected in Australia, 50,000 livestock producers and 250,000 hobby farmers would immediately enter a stock standstill for at least 72 hours.
An outbreak of this kind will affect any protein-containing product that people could lay their hands on. This picture taken on June 16, 2022 shows veterinarians inspecting cattle for foot-and-mouth disease in Bandar Lampung, Lampung province, Indonesia. Picture: PERDIANSYAH / AFP You’d start getting really concerned when the government pulls out its State of Emergency powers to re-route the little food available for hospitals and you see Defence personnel rolled out to destroy, burn and bury tens of thousands of sheep and cattle.
To cap it off, you have just been stood down from your fly-in, fly-out job as the camps can’t get enough food for their mess. Not an option for Australia, where the government has pushed to maintain its ban on the import of any red meat that has not been processed.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
What is foot and mouth disease? Why farmers fear ‘apocalyptic bonfires of carcasses’Australia’s livestock industry remains on edge after fragments of foot and mouth disease were detected in pork products at a Melbourne retailer on Wednesday. 7NEWS
Read more »
Indonesia pledges to halt foot and mouth outbreak as virus fragments found in AustraliaIndonesia is imploring Australia not to panic, despite a shortage of foot and mouth vaccines or even personnel to administer the shots to livestock.
Read more »
Indonesia pledges to halt foot and mouth outbreak as virus fragments found in AustraliaIndonesia is imploring Australia not to panic, despite a shortage of foot and mouth vaccines or even personnel to administer the shots to livestock.
Read more »
‘Guinea pig’ surfers test foot and mouth quarantine responseFederal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has announced sanitation foot mats will be rolled out at Australian airports in the coming days, and asked returning holidaymakers to either clean their shoes or leave them behind.
Read more »
Australia's borders won't close to Indonesia over foot and mouth disease, minister saysAgriculture Minister Murray Watt says there is a 'well-established plan' to deal with a foot and mouth outbreak in Australia, but is confident the disease can be kept out.
Read more »
Foot and mouth disease detected in AustraliaFoot and mouth disease has been detected at an airport in Australia, with an undeclared beef product being found to contain the contagious virus. DETAILS: 9News
Read more »