The Minerals Council of Australia has teamed up with the Livestock Industry Taskforce to promote mining industry best practice to prevent the incursion of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Australia.
The particular focus is on high-risk members of mining workforce who are travelling to Indonesia, or any other country affected by FMD, that are attending work sites that overlap or interact with livestock areas in Australia.
The mining industry sees it as critical that the key government advice to returning travellers is understood and followed and has been liaising with members to ensure FMD doesn’t threaten the livestock industry.
This includes that all equipment, clothing and footwear must checked, disinfected and thoroughly cleaned before travel to Australia and again before travel to regional areas across Australia.
While foot-and-mouth disease is endemic in many countries, Australia remains free and the recent outbreak in Indonesia reinforces how vigilant we all must be.
An incursion of foot-and-mouth disease would have a devastating impact on Australia’s meat and livestock industries.
The impact on the broader economy would be significant, with estimates by ABARES that an FMD incursion would have a direct economic impact of around $80 billion.
