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Posted Yesterday at 4:20am Thu 21 Jul 2022 at 4:20am, updated Yesterday at 2:47pm
By Richard Davies, Eugene Boisvert, Jane McNaughton and Emma Field
Biosecurity efforts are being ramped up at Adelaide Airport after the discovery of viral fragments of foot-and-mouth disease in a beef product, while a testing blitz is being rolled out across Melbourne following Wednesday's detection of viral traces in imported pork products.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said Adelaide Airport biosecurity testing detected the fragments in an undeclared beef product brought in by a passenger from Indonesia.
The only flights into Adelaide from Indonesia are from Bali, where there has been an outbreak of the disease, which affects cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. While it rarely affects humans, people can carry the virus for up to 24 hours and be a source of infection for animals.
The South Australian announcement on Thursday followed the discovery on Wednesday of viral fragments of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and African swine fever in pork products in Melbourne retail stores and a warehouse.
Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp told Victorian Country Hour the potentially unlawful imports had been detected after authorities increased audits of retailers.
"The products were from countries that [Australia doesn't allow meat imports from] and the products were described as [being of] vegetable origin, but were of animal origin," Dr Schipp said. ...
By Richard Davies, Eugene Boisvert, Jane McNaughton and Emma Field
Biosecurity efforts are being ramped up at Adelaide Airport after the discovery of viral fragments of foot-and-mouth disease in a beef product, while a testing blitz is being rolled out across Melbourne following Wednesday's detection of viral traces in imported pork products.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said Adelaide Airport biosecurity testing detected the fragments in an undeclared beef product brought in by a passenger from Indonesia.
The only flights into Adelaide from Indonesia are from Bali, where there has been an outbreak of the disease, which affects cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. While it rarely affects humans, people can carry the virus for up to 24 hours and be a source of infection for animals.
The South Australian announcement on Thursday followed the discovery on Wednesday of viral fragments of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and African swine fever in pork products in Melbourne retail stores and a warehouse.
Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp told Victorian Country Hour the potentially unlawful imports had been detected after authorities increased audits of retailers.
"The products were from countries that [Australia doesn't allow meat imports from] and the products were described as [being of] vegetable origin, but were of animal origin," Dr Schipp said. ...
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