Foot and Mouth disease – the risk

FOOT and Mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious virus disease of animals.
If there was an outbreak of FMD the impact on our livestock industries would be devastating.
The likely cost is estimated to be around $52 billion to the Australian livestock industry and meat processing sector over 10 years. The beef industry alone could lose an estimated $31 billion.
Livestock prices may collapse to 20 per cent of their current value and most livestock businesses would find it difficult to recover from that sort of drop in price.
Australia is particularly vulnerable because more than 60 per cent of our beef and 58 per cent of our sheep meats are exported and most of this product would end up on the domestic market.
Countries without the disease, which include many of Australia’s major trading partners do not import from, or severely restrict imports from FMD-infected countries.
FMD affects cloven-hoofed animals (those with divided hoofs), including cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, deer and pigs. It has been reported in countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America.
FMD spreads rapidly between animals.
The virus is excreted in breath, saliva, mucus, milk and faeces. The virus can be excreted by animals for up to four days before clinical signs appear. Animals can become infected through inhalation, ingestion and direct contact.
The disease spreads most commonly through the movement of infected animals. In sheep the symptoms can be absent or very mild, and undetected infected sheep can be an important source of infection.
The FMD virus can also be spread on wool, hair, grass or straw; by the wind; or by mud or manure sticking to footwear, clothing, livestock equipment or vehicle tyres.
Infected pigs can breathe out very large quantities of the virus.
Cattle are very susceptible to, and able to be infected by breathing in small quantities of the virus.
In some animals (‘carriers’), the virus can continue to be carried for long periods (months or years) after apparent recovery.
FMD does not usually kill animals but it is a very debilitating disease causing serious production losses and animal welfare issues. The clinical signs are fever followed by the appearance of blisters between the toes and on the heels, on mammary glands and especially on the lips, tongue and palate.
These blisters often erupt to leave raw, painful ulcers that take up to 10 days to heal.
Foot lesions leave animals lame and unable to walk to feed or water. Tongue and mouth lesions are very painful and cause animals to drool and stop eating.
Adults usually begin eating again after a few days, but young animals may weaken and die, or be left with foot deformities or damage to the mammary glands.
However, well developed exotic disease outbreak procedures are in place that involve all levels of government and the livestock industries. Those procedures are regularly tested, updated and improved.
The most important people in identifying and notifying FMD are usually stock owners and others who work with livestock. They should notify suspicious symptoms immediately to their local vet so that appropriate biosecurity arrangements to contain the spread of disease are instigated as quickly as possible.
Australia has an extensive network of both government and private vets who can identify the disease.
This network includes 160 people who gained first hand experience of FMD from experience in the United Kingdom in 2001.
Where a vet confirms a suspicion of FMD they will immediately take samples and send these to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong for diagnosis. Diagnosis takes 24 hours. Meanwhile the property will be
quarantined and plans activated so the response can be initiated as soon as the results are known.
Be aware of symptoms like severe lameness, blisters and fever in livestock. If in doubt phone your vet, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries Hotline on 136 186, or the Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 657 888.

Short URL: /?p=13292

Posted by Sarah Vella on Jan 6 2015. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry