Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
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Cases of FMD were confirmed in Indonesia in July 2022.
Australia remains free from FMD.
FMD is a highly contagious animal disease that affects all cloven-hooved animals including pigs. Pigs are amplifiers of the disease.
REPORTING
Foot-and-mouth disease is a nationally notifiable disease. This means if you suspect an animal is showing signs of the disease, you must report it.
You can do this by contacting your local herd or government veterinarian or by calling the national Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.
Signs
Signs in pigs may include:
- Blistering of the tongue, mouth, snout, hooves, or teats of recently farrowed sows
- Lameness or reluctance to move
- Fever
- Abortion (in sows)
- Drooling
- Lack of appetite
- In severe cases – death
For more information, visit Animal Heath Australia’s FMD page.
Potential impact of FMD on Australian agriculture
An FMD outbreak would result in severe economic losses to the livestock and meat processing sector. These losses range up to $80 billion over 10 years.
Source: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2022: FMD consequences
What is Australian Pork Limited doing?
As with all emergency animal diseases, APL is following the evolving FMD situation in Indonesia closely. As an industry, we encourage producers to be alert but not alarmed by the recent outbreaks.
APL’s priority is to continue working with State and Federal governments to ensure the biosecurity risks posed by FMD and other emergency animal diseases are approached strategically and remain nationally agreed upon.
It is critical producers review their on-farm biosecurity management plans and familiarise themselves with the resources available via the Animal Health Australia website and the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
APL will continue to keep our producers and stakeholders informed on all emergency animal diseases.
Swill feeding and FMD
Feeding swill is the leading cause for introduction of animal diseases. Swill includes food scraps, bakery waste, restaurant waste, untreated used cooking oils or other food waste that contains or has come into contact with meat or meat products.
Swill is “Prohibited Pig Feed”. This means it is illegal to feed swill to pigs in all states and territories of Australia. Swill feeding is illegal because it can carry exotic diseases that could devastate our livestock industries. Know your responsibilities when feeding pigs.
More information
- Contact the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
- Find the latest information and FAQs from Animal Health Australia.
- Learn more about your responsibilities under PigPass to ensure the lifetime traceability of your pigs.
- Travellers Journey Biosecurity Map.