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.
With increased checks not only at supermarkets but also at airports and mail centres, he said it was likely there could be further discoveries.
However, Dr Schipp stressed the fragments found in the meat products this week were not live and posed no risk to human health.
"Those animals were infected with those diseases at the time of their slaughter," Dr Schipp said.
Extra vigilance at airports
A highly contagious disease, foot and mouth is currently active in Indonesia and could cost the economy billions of dollars if it infects local livestock.
Senator Watt said biosecurity officials were being extra vigilant with international flights.
Sanitation mats are being rolled out in Australia's international airports — with Cairns and Darwin airports to install them within days — as a precaution, to clean the footwear of arriving passengers.
"From time to time we discover things that people haven't declared and that was the way that we found beef fragments and beef products that contained viral fragments of FMD at Adelaide Airport," Senator Watt said.
He said the discovery did not mean that foot-and-mouth disease was in Australia.
"What has been found is viral fragments, which are almost certainly dead," he said.
Dr Schipp urged everybody to adhere to biosecurity laws.
"That's why we ask passengers to make declarations when they come to Australia and why we have such strict arrangements about importing food into Australia," Dr Schipp said.
Penalties for breaches of Australia's biosecurity laws include imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to $1.11 million ($5.55 million for corporate entities), or both.
Swill feeding illegal
Dr Schipp said food imports were a common way that FMD had entered other countries and there was a particular risk when infected products were fed to livestock.
Australian Pork chief executive officer Margo Andrae said pig owners must not feed meat, animal products or imported dairy goods to their animals.
This is called swill feeding and it is illegal in Australia.
"You're fine to feed them your leftover veggies but please do not swill feed them."
Ms Andrae said this was the first detection of meat contaminated by viral fragments in retail stores in Australia's history.
"To find out that these products are coming in through some backdoor is just not okay," she said.
"We go through such rigour for our products and we have the highest levels of biosecurity and animal welfare."
She said Australia's $5.3 billion pork industry and all its other cloven hoofed livestock industries were put at risk by people importing illegal products.
"Everybody needs to play a part in protecting our food security," Ms Andrae said.
The federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment did not say when the fragments were found at Adelaide Airport, except to note that it was "recently".
