Foot and mouth disease

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hooved animals including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, buffalo, camelids, and deer. It does not affect non-cloven-hooved animals such as horses, dogs, cats or birds and is not the same as hand, foot and mouth disease in people. 

Australia is free from FMD and doesn’t allow imports of any susceptible live animals, semen or uncooked meat or unprocessed dairy products from FMD-affected countries or zones. FMD is present in Asia, including in Indonesia, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America and with information on the current global situation found at the World Organisation for Animal Health.

The most likely way that FMD could enter Australia is by the illegal importation of meat and dairy products, which can carry FMD virus. Pigs are highly susceptible to FMD and can become infected if they eat products carrying the virus. Once infected, pigs produce large quantities of virus, which can spread to other livestock. To prevent FMD and other serious diseases, it is illegal to feed pigs anything that: 

• contains meat, meat products, or any other products from mammals.
• has had contact with meat, meat products or any other products from mammals.

FMD could also enter Australia by people from infected countries returning with the virus on their footwear or equipment and then having contact with animals. People who have had contact with farms or livestock in infected countries need to declare this when arriving in Australia and ensure all footwear, clothing and equipment are clean and free of mud/animal manure. 

An outbreak in Australia could have very significant consequences on production and trade. A report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences estimated an FMD outbreak would result in severe direct economic losses to the livestock and meat processing sector over a ten-year period. These losses were estimated to be of the value of around $80 billion over 10 years (in 2020-21), largely due to lost export market access. 

The signs of FMD vary depending on the species and the strain of the virus, however, typically involve blisters forming in the mouth, nostrils, on teats, and on the skin between and above the hoofs of cloven-footed animals.  

Clinical signs include: 

• blisters (vesicles) in the mouth, nostrils, teats, or on the skin between and above the hooves. These blisters are often not obvious until they have ruptured. Blisters in sheep are usually small and difficult to see 
• slobbering/drooling 
• lameness and/or a reluctance to move 
• severe depression 
• lack of appetite 
• sudden death in young animals 
• a large drop in milk yield in dairy animals 
• abortion in pigs. 

Animals usually show signs of FMD within 3–5 days of infection, but signs can take up to 14 days to appear. It is important to note that in sheep the signs are often mild, and difficult to detect, and where lameness may be one of the only signs. 

Some endemic diseases can present similarly to FMD including but not limited to contagious ecthyma (‘scabby mouth’) (scalding/contact) dermatitis photosensitisation or mucosal disease. Other reportable diseases can also present similarly such as vesicular disease, Rinderpest and Peste des Petits Ruminants which are exotic to Australia.