Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a serious and highly contagious viral animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals, both domestic and wild including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camelids (such as camels and alpacas), deer and buffalo/bison. Cloven-hoofed animals are those with divided hooves. Other susceptible wild and zoo animals found in NSW include giraffe, Asian elephants, Himalayan tahr, Barbary sheep, antelopes and banteng.
Horses, donkeys and zebras are not affected.
FMD is a highly contagious virus carried by live animals and in contaminated meat and dairy products, bones and untreated hides. The virus can be present and transmitted through animal waste (urine and faeces), soil, vehicles and equipment used with infected animals and carried on people’s clothing and footwear. It can survive in frozen, chilled and freeze-dried foods. The virus can also be carried by the wind.
Signs of FMD include:
If livestock exhibit any signs consistent with FMD, report it immediately to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline 1800 675 888, NSW DPI or a Local Land Services District Veterinarian.
FMD is considered one of Australia’s greatest biosecurity risks. Australia is currently free of FMD, so an incursion would have severe consequences for Australia’s animal health and trade.
There are specific risks to zoos and petting zoos, in addition to the risk of animal infection. If there was an outbreak of FMD in Australia, depending on whether the zoo or petting zoo was within an infected area, adjacent to an infected area or distant from an infected area the following actions could be implemented:
FMD is most likely to enter Australia through illegal imports of meat and dairy products infected with the FMD virus and the subsequent illegal feeding of these products (swill) to susceptible animals.
It could also enter Australia through contaminated clothing and boots.
Strict quarantine, surveillance and biosecurity conditions are in place to prevent FMD entering Australia.
NSW and all other Australian states and territories have strict laws that prohibit swill feeding. To help prevent FMD and other serious diseases, domestic and wild pigs must be prevented from eating food scraps. Pig farms, rubbish tips and ports are monitored to make sure that food scraps are not fed to pigs.
Zookeepers and petting zoo operators should be mindful of good hygiene practices around animals. Look, Report, Protect:
Operating clean takes commitment. Ensure all vehicles, equipment, people and animals are clean when entering a zoo or petting zoo premises and clean when leaving, preventing the spread of any unwanted pests and diseases. See: Information for Zoos and Petting Zoos on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) (PDF, 285.48 KB) for more information.
Australia’s FMD policy is to stamp out the disease by removing infected and high-risk animals. This would be animals within an agreed radius of an affected herd. There are agreed methods in place to ensure that animals are treated and destroyed humanely.
FMD is not of concern for human health or food safety. It is a contagious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, goats, camelids, deer and pigs. It can infect people, but the signs are generally mild and self-limiting. FMD is not the same as hand-foot-and-mouth disease which is a common disease in young children.
Australia's Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA) documents nationally agreed arrangements for the cost sharing of compensation paid to affected livestock enterprises, and payments are managed under jurisdictional legislation varying between states/territories: https://lnkd.in/gh-XxJ7E