The government has announced a $66 million boost to bio security services in order to stop African swine flu from reaching Australian shores.
More than a quarter of the world’s pig population has been wiped out due to African swine fever. The fever, which is highly contagious, has been recorded in over 50 countries including Australia’s near neighbour Timor Leste. The extra funding will go towards detection dogs and other biosecurity measures at airports.
Deputy Nationals minister Bridget McKenzie told Sky News the government is doing “everything it can” to stop this disease from getting to Australia. “We have banned bringing in pork products from African swine fever countries, we have increased our testing regimes, we have increased our screening of parcels and passengers from African swine fever affected countries,” she said.
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