“If we have to do more things, we would take that into account.
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“Everyone who declares to have been in a risk zone is monitored. They are spoken to and, if there are any particular doubts, they are examined and their luggage is examined.”
If a positive case of foot-and-mouth disease is detected on an Australian farm, it could close the $ 27 billion cattle export trade for months or even years. The federal government has estimated the total cost of a major outbreak at $ 80 billion.
The federal government is stepping up biosecurity checks and warning all passengers returning from Bali of the risks of an outbreak. Watt said state governments and individual travelers must also “take themselves seriously and meet their end of the business.”
“If I got here, it would go to our export industry for a period of time and it would be another hit for consumers at the supermarket checkout.”
Foot-and-mouth disease infects domesticated farm species such as pigs, cattle, and sheep, as well as wild species such as camels, pigs, goats, and deer. It causes fever, lameness and injuries to the tongue, feet, snout and teats.
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The virus is highly infectious, spreads rapidly among livestock, and can survive on objects such as vehicle tires, cattle trucks, and equipment.
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 in the United Kingdom forced the destruction of more than 6 million pigs, cows and sheep at an estimated cost of £ 8 billion ($ 14 billion).