Foot and mouth disease found in meat in Australia
STORY: "We have detected foot and mouth disease and African swine fever viral fragments in a small number of pork products for sale in the Melbourne CBD that were imported from China," Watt said, adding that these were detected during routine checks.
Following an outbreak of the disease in Indonesia, travelers arriving in Australia from Indonesia will now be asked to walk across sanitation foot mats at international airports, the latest measure to ramp up Australia’s biosecurity measures, the government said. The mats will contain a citric acid solution designed to dislodge any dirt from the sole of the shoe and cover it in the acid.
Foot and mouth disease is a highly contagious animal disease that affects cattle, sheep, goats and pigs but does not pose a threat to humans. Government modeling projects a widespread foot and mouth outbreak in Australia would have an estimated direct economic impact of around A$80 billion ($55.3 billion).