I am running a farming property where we rear beef cattle and sheeps. 
I am concern on how an outbreak of food and mouth disease in Australia 
would impact the income. 
Wish to find out: 
 
1)Which organisations within Australia are working to prevent an 
outbreak of foot and mouth disease? 
2)Like to know what these organisation  recommending? 
3)What measures are being taken? 

Thank you for your concern regarding Foot and Mouth(FMD)disease in
Australia.
 
It appears that the Australian Veterinary Association(AVA) along with
other
organisations is trying very hard to tackle this problem.The AVA is
fully aware of the threat of FMD and the economic damage it can cause
to the Australian economy.
 
Currently there is no danger of FMD in Australia, however, the recent
report
according to the President of the Australian Veterinary
Association(AVA)
Dr. Ian Denney  is that "Fortunately, we have not seen FMD in
Australia for well over a century but the growth in international
trade and tourism means we are always at risk of having the virus
reintroduced here."
  
 
On April 18, 2002 the  The Australian Veterinary Association has
announced plans to fly some member-veterinarians to the UK to help the
fight against Foot-and-Mouth Disease and bring this vital knowledge
back to protect Australia's $10 billion a year livestock export
industries.
 
Dr Ian Denney said "the organisation was gravely concerned about the
potential disaster that FMD would trigger if the present outbreak in
the UK and Europe was to reach our shores."
 
 
Dr Denney said the AVA had raised the plan to send private
veterinarians to gain FMD experience with the Federal Minister for
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr Truss, during a meeting in
Canberra three weeks ago.
 
While officials appear to be marking time, the AVA wants to get the
program moving by providing the airfares for at least two of its
private practitioner members. The UK Government has expressed its
willingness to offer
contracts to such volunteers. 
 
Dr Denny stated "Because the AVA is so concerned about the threat
posed by FMD we have decided to start sending our own members- as a
sign of our good faith and as a spur to the Federal Government to move
things along,"
 
 
For more informattion please contact The Australian Veterinary
Association:
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.ava.com.au/">http://www.ava.com.au/</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.ava.com.au/">http://www.ava.com.au/</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) 
 
Mr Dennis Ringrose, 
AVA Communications Manager 
Ph 02 9411 2733. 
PO Box 371 Artarmon NSW 2064 Australia 
(02) 9411 2733 (phone),  
(02) 9411 5089 (fax),  
avahq@ava.com.au (email). 
 
 
For Federal(Commonwealth) Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry, Mr Truss,
Phone - (02) 6277 7520  
Email-W.Truss.MP@aph.gov.au 
 
For a Web directory of several related Australian Agricultural
Associations please see:
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.farmwide.com.au/cca/OtherSiteLinks.htm">http://www.farmwide.com.au/cca/OtherSiteLinks.htm</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.farmwide.com.au/cca/OtherSiteLinks.htm">http://www.farmwide.com.au/cca/OtherSiteLinks.htm</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
 
Other related information from the United States Department of
Agriculture regarding Foot and Mouth disease(FMD):
 
&amp;quot;FMD is a highly contagious and economically devastating disease of
cattle and swine.
 
It also affects sheep, goats, deer, and other cloven-hooved ruminants.
Many affected animals recover, but the disease leaves them
debilitated.  FMD causes severe losses in the production of meat and
milk.  Because it spreads widely and rapidly and because it has grave
economic as well as physical consequences, FMD is one of the animal
diseases that livestock owners dread most.  The disease does not
affect food safety or humans.
 
Foot-and-mouth disease can be killed off by heat, low humidity, or
some disinfectants.  It is only rarely fatal, although it is more
likely to kill very young animals. There is no cure for the disease,
and it usually runs its course in 2 or 3 weeks with most animals
recovering, although some animals take up to 6 months to fully
recover.&amp;quot;
 
 
Definitions from United States Department of Agriculture website:  
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/qafmd301.html">http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/qafmd301.html</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/qafmd301.html">http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/pubs/qafmd301.html</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
I hope this information helps you. I would be happy to help you with
further
clarifcation(s) if you so desire. 
 
 
Seeker  

---

Request for Answer Clarification by aloy-ga on 29 Apr 2002 08:30 PDT

Thanks for your reply, is it possible for you to specify other
organisations beside AVA are working to prevent the outbreak of the
disease?
The recommendations made by the other organisations? 
What measures are being taken by them?  

---

Clarification of Answer by seeker-ga on 29 Apr 2002 11:20 PDT

As previously stated FMD is not present in Australia 
and the strategy of the various bodies at this time  
seems to be preventing importation of the disease from  
FMD infected Countries. The only recommendation I have been 
able to obtain has been for you to contact the HOTLINE of  
various organizations responsible for FMD.  
 
Vaccination in case of FMD is not favored and as a result  
I have looked at the current strategies being followed by  
UK authorities and some of them are: 
 
Slaughter of infected farms out within 24 hours 
 
Cull all cattle and sheep within 48 hours 
 
Further actions: 
 
Ban swill feeding 
 
20 day stand still period after the movement of  
Sheep and cattle  
 
Australia has also suspended all imports of livestock from the  
UK and other FMD affected countries. Australia Bans import  
of embryos, semen and live pigs as well as cattle, sheep and deer. 
 
For more information please see: 
http//:&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.safemeat.org">http://www.safemeat.org</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.safemeat.org">www.safemeat.org</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
Australian entities working on FMD are: 
 
Australian Veterinary Association 
 
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries 
 
FMD HOTLINE- 1-800-444-023 
 
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service(AQIS)along  
with Animal Health Australia 
 
Animal Health Australia manages the coordination and  
development of the various components of the AUSVETPLAN  
and works closely with the Commonwealth, States and Territories  
and the livestock industries to determine priorities.  
The National Veterinary Committee has a key role in this work. 
AUSVETPLAN is a series of technical response plans that describe  
the proposed Australian approach to an exotic disease incursion.  
The documents provide guidance based on sound analysis, linking
policy, strategies, implementation, coordination and
emergency-management plans.
These documents are in Acrobat PDF format.  
 
For free Acrobat Download: 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html">http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html">http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html</a>&lt;/a&gt;  
 
 
Animal Health Australia 
Please look at Foot and Mouth Disease on the list: 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/index.htm">http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/index.htm</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/index.htm">http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/index.htm</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
Please see: 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.safemeat.org/content.cfm?sid=822">http://www.safemeat.org/content.cfm?sid=822</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.safemeat.org/content.cfm?sid=822">http://www.safemeat.org/content.cfm?sid=822</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
Detail information on Signs of FMD: 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.brs.gov.au/usr-bin/aphb/ahsq?species=-1&amp;amp;disease=FMD&amp;amp;occurs=-1&amp;amp;cause=-1&amp;amp;notify=-1&amp;amp;OIEclass=-1&amp;amp;format=html&amp;amp;Doit=Retrieve">http://www.brs.gov.au/usr-bin/aphb/ahsq?species=-1&amp;amp;disease=FMD&amp;amp;occurs=-1&amp;amp;cause=-1&amp;amp;notify=-1&amp;amp;OIEclass=-1&amp;amp;format=html&amp;amp;Doit=Retrieve</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.brs.gov.au/usr-bin/aphb/ahsq?species=-1&amp;amp;disease=FMD&amp;amp;occurs=-1&amp;amp;cause=-1&amp;amp;notify=-1&amp;amp;OIEclass=-1&amp;amp;format=html&amp;amp;Doit=Retrieve">http://www.brs.gov.au/usr-bin/aphb/ahsq?species=-1&amp;amp;disease=FMD&amp;amp;occurs=-1&amp;amp;cause=-1&amp;amp;notify=-1&amp;amp;OIEclass=-1&amp;amp;format=html&amp;amp;Doit=Retrieve</a>&lt;/a&gt;
 
AQIS information on FMD: 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=D2C48F86-BA1A-11A1-A2200060B0A00578">http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=D2C48F86-BA1A-11A1-A2200060B0A00578</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=D2C48F86-BA1A-11A1-A2200060B0A00578">http://www.affa.gov.au/content/output.cfm?ObjectID=D2C48F86-BA1A-11A1-A2200060B0A00578</a>&lt;/a&gt;
 
Your state or Territory Department of Agriculture 
 
I hope this clarification has proved useful to you 
 
Seeker  

The researcher has not fully answer my question post...
I am not satisify with the answer given.

Hi Aloy

Will try and answer your foot and mouth queries as best as possible.
Some of the links that have been provided to you from other
researchers are excellent and contain all of the information you
require. I will attempt to put this information in a concise form and
step you through the points of your question. I will add in small
pieces of information from my background. I work in the Veterinary
industry in Victoria, Australia and have university education
specifically in Agriculture and Biology.

1) Which organisations within Australia are working to prevent an
outbreak of foot and mouth disease?

The Australian Federal government co-ordinates all work pertaining to
the prevention of a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in
Australia. Smaller organisations are involved, such as the AVA
(Australian Veterinary Association) and specific government
departments such as AQIS (Australian Quarantine) are responsible for
keeping the disease out.
The prevention of an outbreak has been broken down into 7 main areas:

International Off-Shore Prevention
National Border Prevention
FMD Knowledge and Technical Resources for Eradication
Preparedness Strategies to Optimise the Initial Response
Minimising the Social and Economic Impacts of Outbreaks
Communications, Media and Training Responses
Administering the FMD/BSE Program
http://www.aahc.com.au/hot_issues/fmd.htm 

Most of these stages are to do with keeping the disease out of the
country. The reason for this is that FMD is a virus, and can not be
treated. Animals can be supported until their immune systems cope with
the disease, but there is no magic cure for animals which have
contracted the virus (except death). There are unlikely to be
companies working on a cure as FMD is a virus and viruses are unable
to be “cured” with today’s medical technologies. The only way we can
control its spread is by isolating the virus and culling animals that
have contracted the disease. For this reason the companies associated
with controlling this disease are involved with quarantine (making
sure that no material capable of transmitting the virus enters
Australia) and disease identification (Vets and Farmers being educated
to identify and respond to disease outbreaks).

AUSVETPLAN (The Agriculture and Resource Management Council of
Australia and New Zealand) has constructed a very detailed Emergency
plan for the event of a FMD outbreak. The 73 page document describes
in great detail almost all aspects of the disease in Australia.
Reading this document will answer most of your questions in relation
to this topic, on page three they have a list of
companies/organisations that were involved with researching and input
into this document.
http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/fmdfinal.pdf

2. Like to know what these organisations [are] recommending?

The emergency plan recommends that farmers are aware of the clinical
signs of the disease and record accurately all movements of animals
and animal products entering and leaving their premise. This will
assist in the tracing of a disease outbreak for better containment. 
They also recommend that all animal products used are treated for the
disease before use, especially stock feeds such as milk and pellets
containg animal products.

The organisations also recommend a number of quarantine measures to
stop animal by products and materials that may carry the virus from
entering the country. Australia still accepts materials from other
countries that may contain the virus. During the 2001 outbreak in the
UK Australia received machinery from Europe which had mud and
presumably animal faeces covering them.  Animal faeces can certainly
spread the virus.

Another recommendation is feral animal control. FMD cannot spread
within our native wildlife but may quickly spread through feral
animals such as goats, pigs and deer. These organisations recommend
that these feral animals are culled as heavily as possible.

The plan does NOT recommend vaccination as this can mask the disease
whilst still allowing its spread. Also the cost of vaccination is
abhorrent.

More recommendations can be read in the emergency plan and are too
detailed to list here. Most of the recommendations are aimed at
government bodies associated with quarantine and trade.
http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/fmdfinal.pdf
The Animal Health Australia has links to many sites with specific
disease information.
http://www.aahc.com.au/hot_issues/fmd.htm

3. What measures are being taken?

Many measures are being taken. Quarantine services fiercely restrict
the import of any animals that may carry the disease. Also workshops
and seminars are held widely across Australia for farmers and
interested parties. A vaccination stockpile is maintained so that in
the event of a serious outbreak, animals could be vaccinated. AQIS
also keeps watch for illegally smuggled products and animals that can
carry the disease into Australia.

There have been outbreaks of FMD in the past (last one was in 1872
when a bull was imported from Europe) and there no doubt will be
outbreaks in future. Most organisations feel that the best way to
handle this is to:

Make every effort to keep FMD out of the country.
Make sure Farmers and Vets are able to identify the disease and
understand how it is spread.
Make sure a traceable network of stock movement is maintained so that
an outbreak can be traced back to its source quickly.
Reduce the number of feral animals able to carry and spread the
disease.

If you are interested in taking this further, I would recommend
contacting Animal Health Australia to see if there are any seminars on
FMD available in your area.

Animal Heath Australia
Suite 15
26-28 Napier Close 
Deakin ACT 2600 
Phone: (02) 6232 5522 
Facsimile: (02) 6232 5511 
E-Mail: aahc@aahc.com.au 
The two links above will provide all the information you require about
FMD. However to research the topic further, the links provided by
seeker will also be useful.

Please let me know if there is anything you need clarified.

Good luck with your projects.

Molloch.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by aloy-ga on 13 May 2002 00:41 PDT

May i know which websites had details on the measures to be taken?

---

Clarification of Answer by molloch-ga on 13 May 2002 00:54 PDT

Hi again,

Please see the following link for a breakdown of measures to be taken.

http://www.aahc.com.au/ausvetplan/fmdfinal.pdf

The information is vast and I can't quote it all here but you need to
read section 2.2, titled "Methods to prevent spread and eliminate
pathogens". This is by far the best resource for researching measures
taken and most other sites you will find are just paraphrasing this
section. The document (and especially section 2.2) is written in an
very easy to understand manner.

Section 2.2 begins on page 18 and concludes on page 24 and runs
through all of the suggested measures. Page 25 gives an excellent
synopsis of the feasability of these measures preventing or
controlling an outbreak.

Information on this topic not cited was provided from personal
knowledge gained and discussion with colleagues in the veterinary
industry.

Hope this helps to clarify my answer for you.

Best of luck

Molloch

Hi aloy,

Animal Health Australia (A not-for profit public Company established
by governments and livestock industries) seems to be a quite involved
organization in regard to the assesment and prevention of foot and
mouth disease.  Their website is available at: 
http://www.aahc.com.au/hot_issues/fmd.htm

They have a concise list of resources at the bottom of the page that
list disease information and other organizations.

Although i am not an australian citizen, a press release found through
a quick search on google resulted that the australian government in
august 2001 hired numerous staff to ensure saftey from FMD, the press
release is available here:
http://www.law.gov.au/aghome/agnews/2001newsjus/e175_01.htm

Hope this helps.

Unlike the other person who commented I am an Australian and living in
sheep country, (on weekends at least when I go home to Mum and Dad.  I
was thinking initially that you dont know much about the subject or
even sheep as first you call "Foot and Mouth" "Food and Mouth" which
has a different connatation completely. Also the plural of sheep is
still sheep not "sheeps".  However now I am thinking that your English
is just not that good and you do seriously worry about the situation
in Australia.  Firstly there is no Foot & Mouth in Australia and never
has been as far as I know. The latest available info is that at this
point in time the chances of an outbreak are extremely low and some
say negligable. In any case you can get a complete rundown on the
Australian viewpoint by logging onto any one of a number of sites who
have experts available to answer such questions.  First amongst such
organisations would be " Australian Cattle & Livestock
Association","National Farmers Federation",  "Australian Graziers
Association" to name a few. Any of these should come up on your screen
just by using GOOGLE query normally and adding word Australia after
the above organisation names.

  Hope this helps, as the Americans say in closing.
   I would say " Good Luck with it mate"

.........just quickly  and adding to previous comment from me, if you
still want more definitive and authoritive info on the subject and/or
the question is not comprehensively answered to the standard you hoped
for then simply let this be known in comments section yourself and I
will provide a higher level response myself.

Thanks for your comments(johnfrommelbourne), is it possible for you to
provide more definitive and authoritive info on the subject?
Is there any other relevant information from other resources such as
Online database or Dialog Online Search Services?

Dear Alloy,
 Just got your message as I was about to go to bed so see what I can
do in next day or so and get back to you as soon as I can. I have the
flu bad as well  so just give me a little time.  However does GOOGLE
leave COMMENTS section  open  for longer periods or close it down
after a week or so ???.

    Will talk again soon,

 John