IN response to the ever-growing threat of foot and mouth disease (FMD), the Victorian Government has established an Emergency Animal Disease Taskforce.
Victorian Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney said the idea behind the taskforce was to plan a rapid response to any potential FMD outbreak in the state, focusing on bolstering the workforce of Agriculture Victoria to manage the potential social, economic and environmental threat of FMD.
“They (the taskforce) have been charged with a whole range of activities so that we can get a focused and targeted government response of things that we need to put in place in terms of being prepared and to prevent an outbreak,” Ms Tierney said.
This range of activities includes developing an emergency animal disease response plan, ensuring sufficient PPE access and other essential items in terms of testing, tracing, destruction, disposals and vaccination, as well as coordinating workplace appointments and workforce surges with the help of the national government.
In line with the State Emergency Management Plan, the taskforce will be co-chaired by Agriculture Victoria CEO Matt Lowe and the Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp, taking advice from Victoria Chief Vet Graeme Cooke.
Dr Cooke said he was pleased to be a part of the taskforce.
“What the minister has announced is something that is very, very proactive and not reactive,” Dr Cooke said.
“Should (FMD) arrive, we want to have an environment where people are thinking about biosecurity already, hence the awareness campaign that has been on the way for some time in terms of farmers really thinking about having a constant mindset for biosecurity, and then if we have to respond, we are ready to go.”
Ms Tierney said the anxiety from the Victorian farming community surrounding FMD has been palpable over the past couple of weeks.
“Clearly people are wanting to know more – they want to know what is going on in terms of coordination, and we have been able to give some farmers some very practical advice through webinars and also providing information about what they can do on their farm to assist in increasing higher awareness of biosecurity issues,” Ms Tierney said.
“This is really good timing where we can have those conversations at a grassroots level that gives farmers the opportunity to turn that anxiety into very positive, proactive, practical measures that can assist at a local level.”
Dr Cooke said the latest risk assessment for FMD reaching Australia is currently around 12 per cent, with the most significant risk of entry through illegal infected meats and dairy products being fed to pigs. He explained that while that is similar to the June risk assessment, it takes into account the increased border protection measures that lower the overall risk.
“You could say in real terms that that is an increase, but actually there are measures that have helped reduce it back to where it was,” Dr Cooke said.
Ms Tierney said she was confident in Agriculture Victoria’s ability to keep FMD out of the state, referring to their recent track record in terms of other biosecurity threats.
“They did it recently in terms of the avian flu and Japanese encephalitis – there are so many biosecurity threats with us all the time and I think they have a proven track record of doing a pretty good job,” she said.
“The way they have ramped up preparedness and have continued to ramp up preparedness in terms of FMD, I think that they should be congratulated for it.”
Victoria is also the only jurisdiction in Australia to have a mandatory electronic National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) for sheep and goats, with an average of 10.5 million sheep tags and 2.5 million cattle tags purchased by Victorian producers per year. Ms Tierney believes this puts Victoria in a very good position already should an FMD outbreak occur.
“In the event of an incursion happening, we have got the ability to track exactly where it is and where it will be going so that we can try and deal with the incursion as quickly as possible,” Ms Tierney said.
Ms Tierney believes overall, with the help of the taskforce, Victoria is now well equipped to handle an FMD outbreak.
“Proportionate to the threat, there will be a further ramping up if and when required, but we are ready for it, we are on the balls of our feet with this,” Ms Tierney said.
