But Australian officials are increasingly concerned about what they will bring home and are considering advising visitors to leave flip-flops – known as flip flops in Australia – in Bali.
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is rapidly spreading through livestock in Indonesia, and on Tuesday the first cases were confirmed in Bali, a popular tourist destination with up to seven non-stop flights. Australian city.
The country’s Chief Veterinary Officer Mark Schipp said: “Food and mouth disease would be catastrophic if it came to Australia,” said the country’s Chief Veterinarian Mark Schipp, who is advising the government on ways to prevent it. block viruses.
FMD is harmless to humans but causes painful blisters and lesions on the mouths and feet of hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and camels, rendering them inedible and for a in some cases can cause severe lameness and death.
The disease is considered the biggest biosecurity threat to Australia’s livestock and an outbreak could lead to the mass culling of infected animals and the closure of export markets for fatty beef. Australia for many years to come.
Fiona Simson, President of the National Federation of Farmers, said: “The impact on farmers if foot-and-mouth disease gets in is really distressing.” “But it’s not just about farmers. Removing $80 billion from Australia’s GDP would be an economic disaster for everyone.”
Australia has begun ramping up biosecurity controls at airports, checking baggage for meat and cheese products, and warning travelers that dirt on their shoes could inadvertently cause damage. First FMD outbreak in Australia in 150 years.
But one control measure that has yet to be implemented are footbaths – containers of strong chemicals that newcomers step into to kill off traces of the disease they may be carrying on their shoes. The problem is that footwear commonly worn in comfortable Bali is not compatible with standard biosecurity measures.
“A lot of people coming back from Bali don’t wear boots, they wear flip-flops or flip-flops and you can’t really afford that chemical on your skin,” says Schipp.
He said officials were considering asking tourists to give up their shoes.
“Do not wear any shoes, or leave shoes behind,” says Schipp. “If you’re wearing trousers in Bali, leave them in Bali.”
The advice has yet to become an official guideline – and is one of several options being considered, he added.
Indonesia’s outbreak
Schipp said the slow rollout reflects the logistical challenges in a decentralized country consisting of thousands of islands.
“You can have this vaccine at the national level, but it needs to get to the provincial and district levels. And when it gets there, the question is how are we going to get the vaccine out. We don’t have a yard. We can’t catch livestock. We don’t have money for gas, we don’t have money for food,” he said.
“Those are the kinds of logistical problems that we’re trying to solve.”
The timing of the outbreak was a disaster in Indonesia, weeks before Idul Adha, the “sacrifice”, when animals are usually sold in bulk for slaughter for three days from 10 July. Families pray and dine together, they sacrifice livestock and distribute meat to the poor.
Mike Tildesley, an expert in infectious disease modeling at the University of Warwick, told CNN that it’s not the slaughter that significantly increases the risk of infection but the “significant movement of animals leading up to the festival.” ”
“We see this in Turkey – there is an annual festival (where FMD is endemic) called Kurban, which also involves the slaughter of a significant number of cattle, preceded by movement. Large numbers of cattle across the country and an increase in reported FMD cases are commonly observed when this happens,” he told CNN in an email.
“Transmission can also occur from contact with carcasses, especially during the first few hours after slaughter and that is why handling of potentially infected carcasses must be handled with care,” he said. handled with great care.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, by July 7, the outbreak in Indonesia had spread to more than 330,000 animals in 21 provinces. Thousands of other doses of the vaccine have arrived from France and more than 350,000 animals have been vaccinated.
The line between disease and vaccination
Instead, the disease spread to 57 sites before it was discovered, and subsequently, a lack of coordination slowed the rollout of emergency vaccinations. In the seven months of trying to get rid of the virus, more than 6 million animals were killed.
The UK was added to the FMD-free list the following year, but the impact was far more widespread than trade.
The report found that “tourism suffered the biggest financial impact from the outbreak, with visitors to England and the countryside deterred by local authorities initially closing footpaths and images on media coverage of mass fires.”
The entire episode cost the government and private sector a total of £8 billion ($9.5 billion).
Other countries have learned from the UK’s response, and typically if an outbreak is detected, a travel ban is imposed before animals are euthanized and sites decontaminated.
For Australia, vaccinating animals is only an option when the virus enters, as the country’s trading partners cannot distinguish between vaccinated and sick animals.
“If we vaccinate first, we will lose our animal health status as a foot-and-mouth disease-free country and we will lose our market and trade access,” Schipp said. .
Ross Ainsworth, a veterinarian for 40 years living in Bali, said it was too easy for tourists on the island to come into contact with livestock and bring the virus home.
“There are cattle everywhere and those cattle will get infected and they will spread the virus,” he said. The virus can survive for several days on the soles of shoes, he said, or a little longer if it’s colder.
“So if you walk out of your villa and get some infected saliva and get in a taxi and fly home, you’ll probably have an extra day and a half of the virus on your feet.” he said.
The National Farmers Federation has welcomed the increased biosecurity controls, but says the government should “constantly review” the security settings and potentially force all travelers coming from areas high-risk areas subject to biosecurity testing.
“Every person should be questioned by at least one biosecurity officer, if not the subject of an inspection,” said Simson, NFF President. “We also need to continue to look at shoe disinfection stations as an option,” she said.
“Whatever it takes. We don’t want to look back and wish we could have done more.”
Schipp says the best defense is education until potentially contaminated shoes are eliminated or foot baths become mandatory. Advertising campaigns are being introduced at airports and on social media – but Schipp says that doesn’t mean asking tourists to stay away from cows.
“Seeing cattle in Bali is part of the experience,” he said. “But it’s very easy to wash your hands and make sure your boots are clean before you return home.”
Masrur Jamaluddin contributed reporting.
