Bill Sykes, who runs a beef property near Benalla, spent six weeks working for the UK Ministry of Agriculture in the Yorkshire area, responding to the outbreak.
He said it was not possible to guarantee foot and mouth disease never entered Australia as no border measures were 100 per cent effective.
However, he urged farmers not to panic over the threat but to do what they could to protect their own farms.
“It’s no good sitting down and just worrying about it,” Dr Sykes said.
“We can do things to protect ourselves. Are your stock records up to date? Are you limiting movements onto the property?”
Dr Sykes is also seeking assurances that Australian and Victorian authorities have a plan to expand manpower to implement control measures should the virus enter the country.
He said international experience revealed that one of the biggest risks of spreading FMD was the transmission from meat products in the food supply of animals.
The feeding of meat and swill to pigs has been banned in Australia for years, and while this was well known among commercial piggeries, there was still a threat from small-scale, backyard livestock farms.
“It’s very easy for someone throwing out food scraps to say ‘what a waste, I’ll give that to my mate who’s got a few pigs’,” Dr Sykes said.
“So, I’d like to know what is being done to make sure this doesn’t become a threat.”
Dr Sykes said he would also like to know what was being done to engage human resources to manage a FMD outbreak on the scale that is required.
He was part of an international response to the UK outbreak which saw millions of head of livestock slaughtered to try to eradicate the virus.
“You need manpower and expertise, as well as a plan to deal with the bodies, and places to bury them,” he said.
“How do you manage de-stocking and what do you do if a farmer refuses?
“There are multiple issues which need to be addressed in advance of an outbreak.”
Dr Sykes said Australia should be looking at a multi-tiered response:
- Reduce the risk of the disease entering Australia through border control measures.
- Reduce the risk of the virus entering Australian animals.
- Develop a well-resourced response to limiting the spread.
Preparing for a potential FMD detection was the number one priority, Agriculture Victoria said.
“Agriculture Victoria staff are undertaking FMD-specific training, scenario planning and participating in emergency exercises to ensure they’re ready to respond quickly if there is a positive detection in livestock,” the department said.
“New on-farm biosecurity methods regarding the safe disposal of animals in the instance of an outbreak are also being trialled, as well as investigation of potential suspect cases on the ground.
“There are over 300 dedicated biosecurity staff within the 1200-strong team at Agriculture Victoria.
“There is also a team of experts and scientists at AgriBio who test suspect animal and plant samples and are continually improving test accuracy and efficiency.”
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt is standing firm on keeping Australia's international border open, despite a growing push by the Opposition to close it.
Senator Watt said calls to close the border were damaging, while lashing out at the Federal Coalition for causing hysteria and damaging Australia's agricultural reputation.
However, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the government should close off travel from Indonesia in a bid to prevent cases.
A number of biosecurity measures have been rolled out to manage travellers from Indonesia, including shoe sanitation mats, information campaigns and increased passenger screening.
The Federal Government has also implemented powers under the Biosecurity Act for the first time in Australia.
Meat & Livestock Australia managing director Jason Strong said alongside stronger biosecurity measures at the border from the Federal Government, MLA would coordinate on-the-ground support to help Indonesian authorities counteract the FMD threat.
“This will be done through vaccination and livestock identification and traceability guidelines, as well as training and communication plans,” Mr Strong said.
“In addition, we will support enhanced data collection and reporting systems within Indonesia.”
