The announcement by Indonesia in early May 2022 that it was battling an outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) has put Australian livestock producers, including UNE, on high alert.

FMD is an exceptionally transmissible disease. There is a significant risk of FMD being brought into Australia via travellers to Indonesia, or that the disease island-hops into northern Australia.

Managers of the University’s farms and animal research facilities are taking progressive measures to tighten up biosecurity, to minimise the chance that the well-travelled UNE community becomes an unwitting vector for the disease.

To help staff understand any new biosecurity measures they may encounter, the following is an overview of UNE’s FMD response.

What is it?

FMD is a highly contagious disease of cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, sheep and pigs. It causes blisters around the mouth that may stop animals eating, and foot soreness that hinders their access to pasture or water.

The virus’s ability to spread and persist in the environment make FMD one of the world’s most feared livestock diseases. FMD can be readily transmitted as an aerosol – up to 20 kilometres downwind – and spread via faeces or other bodily fluids like saliva or blood. Under the right conditions, it can persist in the environment for up to a month.

Once the disease is established, the costs of eradication are enormous. The 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom, which resulted in more than six million farm animals being killed and buried in pits or burned in pyres, cost the UK economy an estimated $13 billion. Estimates for the long-term costs of an FMD outbreak in Australia range up to $80 billion.

Indonesia is claiming that half-a-million animals have been infected by FMD in its current outbreak, but a University of Sydney expert believes the real figure might be much higher.

What is UNE doing?

UNE has substantial holdings of land – 3655 hectares across eight properties – and valuable animal research facilities. As owner-manager of UNE SMART Farms, including Tullimba Research Feedlot, and the Centre for Animal Research and Teaching (CART) research facility, the University has an ethical responsibility for the care of its own livestock, and a broader responsibility to Australia’s livestock industries to not be a vector for disease.

UNE’s biosecurity strategy follows the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN), which will also inform UNE’s responses in the event of an FMD outbreak.

UNE’s livestock-related assets are under heightened awareness of biosecurity, which includes measures to protect our staff, stock and research:

• People who return from a visit to Indonesia (including Bali) must stay away from the SMART Farms and CART for seven days;
• On-farm practices must involve increased attention to good hygiene measures;
• Chemical cleansing measures like citric acid baths for boots are being prepared and stockpiled, and will be introduced to UNE facilities at very short notice, if required.
• Individual access to the SMART Farms will be reviewed to limit unnecessary visits. Research, teaching and learning remains a necessary use of the SMART Farms and CART. Visits to the SMART Farms (outside of research, teaching and learning activities) would be considered via a risk assessment provided to Dean SABL for endorsement, and the COO for approval.

Should biosecurity authorities trigger a higher alert for the state or the nation, UNE would further restrict access to farms and facilities.

Should FMD be found in Australia, a national freeze on livestock movements will be triggered, and UNE will follow the directions and advice of national biosecurity authorities.

Each level of response will be communicated quickly and clearly to the UNE community.