WAFarmers this week met with the Department of Agriculture and Food WA to discuss steps that would be taken in the event of a Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Australia.
FMD is the most important biosecurity threat to Australia’s livestock industries because it is highly contagious, spreads quickly and will have a high economic cost. The Matthews review (2011) identified the importance of exercising to test capability and capacity in the event of an outbreak of the disease in Australia.
WAFarmers will participate in a hypothetical exercise during the month of May 2014 which does not involve real events. This exercise will strengthen various industry sectors understanding of what will happen in the early stages of a FMD response when a livestock standstill is implemented.
