Bio Risk and the food chain

[hatcheckgirl]

Currently in Australia, there is urgent and desperate measures being made to keep out foot and mouth disease (FMD), as it will impact our meat industry, at a loss of $80 billion. This will affect the Australian economy so violently, that it will break it, according to the experts.  The loss of the beef export industry, on top of the bushfires, droughts, covid and recently floods - it’s just too much to bear.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-20/foot-and-mouth-disease-fragments-detected/101254410
 

And there is also an outbreak of varroa mite outbreak affective bee hives. 

“Varroa destructor was first detected in surveillance hives in the port of Newcastle late last month and has now been found at 40 properties across New South Wales, including near Narrabri, 400 kilometres from the original site.

The mite weakens and kills European honey bee colonies, which are vital to the honey and farming industries.”

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-20/nsw-agriculture-minister-says-varroa-mite-can-be-eradicted/101255098

 

If FMD gets a foothold in Australia it will affect food supply chains and make it very hard to buy necessities at reasonable prices. Food prices will skyrocket. Thousands of herds will have to be culled and burnt.

[SoCal4me2]

How is this now a few months down the road?

[hatcheckgirl]

It’s been out of the news over here, so I had to google it to see how the threat from Bali is going. As of yesterday, the Indonesians are saying there is no longer any threat, and cases of foot and mouth disease has gone down.

 

BUT:

“an Australian vet said it is not possible to eliminate FMD as quickly as Indonesian officials have claimed.

"I believe it's the second most infectious disease known to science," said Ross Ainsworth, a vet who has previously worked for decades in Australia's live cattle trade, and now spends considerable time in Bali.

 

"The policy of the government here is to not talk about the disease and hope that it will sort of fade from interest.

"It's just so infectious that it will be here and it will be here for a long time."

 

Bali also appears to be under pressure to eliminate the disease before the island hosts world leaders for the annual G20 summit in mid-November.”

🙄

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-25/bali-foot-and-mouth-may-still-be-spreading/101457796

[hatcheckgirl]

As for the bees:

 

“As of September, 27,000 hives had been inspected and millions of bees euthanised.

An $18 million support package was announced in July for affected beekeepers.

 

Authorities remain confident that the mite can still be eradicated, with all detections linked back to the original Newcastle incursion.

 

A standstill of movement of beehives remains in place in NSW, although some registered commercial beekeepers can move hives in low-risk areas of the state.

 

The senate inquiry, which is also examining Australia’s response preparedness to the foot and mouth disease detected in Indonesia, is sitting on Thursday night and Friday. Representatives from Meat and Livestock Australia and the sheep and pork industries will also give evidence.”

https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/bee-industry-paying-the-price-for-varroa-mite-incursion-20220908-p5bgmm