Foot-and-mouth policy to increase Australia's preparedness
31.05.2012
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has developed a national policy for vaccination against foot–and–mouth disease (FMD), boosting Australia’s preparedness against the disease.
“While Australia has been free of foot–and–mouth disease for more than 100 years, it is still by far the most significant biosecurity threat to Australia’s livestock industries,” DAFF Deputy Secretary, Rona Mellor said.
With the new policy in place, an FMD Vaccination Expert Advisory Group is now developing detailed guidelines indentifying the circumstances under which vaccination will be a useful strategy, and the best strategy for different outbreak scenarios.
It is estimated that in the unlikely event of a FMD outbreak, the disease could cost Australia as much as $16 billion. This is based on a worst case scenario of a 12–month outbreak spread across a large area.
