Food and mouth disease is 'one of the biggest threats' Australia has seen, warns vet

That swill was contaminated with foot and mouth disease and by May of that year NSW Central West veterinarian Dr Howard Thompson was working with British authorities to help control the outbreak.

"By the time that we arrived the outbreak had been going on for quite some time," he said. "Because of how it started it was allowed to spread for some weeks before it came to light."

Those pigs were shipped to an abattoir in Essex where it was noticed that the pigs were very sick. Once a positive lab test confirmed that it was foot and mouth disease authorities began to receive reports that cattle across the north of England, south-western Scotland, the Midlands, south west of England and a few spots in Wales were also showing signs of the disease.

How it spread everywhere in such a short space of time shows just how contagious and dangerous it is for an exporting nation like Australia.

The main vector of transmission in the UK were sheep from a nearby property that were sold and shipped around the country.

"The sheep up there don't get very sick from foot and mouth," Dr Thompson, of Blayney, said.

"It's very mild for them and it wasn't picked up. A lot of them went to store sales, were resold and eventually came in contact with cattle either directly or indirectly through the wind."

What the outbreak eventually became was the destruction of between six and 10 million cloven footed animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, llamas, alpacas and buffalo etc, that destroyed the UK's meat production industry.

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It's those kind of numbers that concern grazier George King, of Carcoar in NSW's Central West, who believes the federal government's estimate of an $80 billion cost over a decade is a gross underestimate.

"This is one of the biggest threats to our industry ever," he said.

"That figure does not take into account the cost to agriculture's ancillary businesses, stock agents, livestock carriers, earthmovers, fencing contractors, local businesses in all regional areas would be devastated."

Not only would it impact the rural sector, Mr King said that the flow on effect would hit everyone.

"If Australians are worried about cost-of-living pressures imagine how much more expensive it would be importing substandard protein and dairy at enormous premiums," he said.

"If people are not eating a red meat protein they will be eating a protein substitute, the cost pressures will drive all cost up, chicken, vegetables, beans will all be under greater demand pressures."

Feral animal populations of pigs, deer and goats would become major carriers of the disease if it took hold in Australia and Mr King believes a FMD outbreak in Australia would not be controllable as it would in a nation such as the United Kingdom.

"Pigs act as super spreaders for FMD," he said. "Australia cannot isolate areas and eradicate the disease, our feral pig population negates this. Our 24 million feral pig population has the potential to destroy the viability of Australian agriculture for a generation."

Dr Thompson said in the UK the fight to control the outbreak involved many layers of government, including the British Army.

"There was an enormous number of people involved and it all comes at an enormous cost," he said.

"Over there they couldn't bury the animals because of the risk of the infection spreading, so they had to burn them over mounds of coal. The pollution was horrific."

As a vet it was his job to ensure the animals that were being euthanised were being treated properly and were not being incinerated before completely dying.

"There's no soft way to start controlling FMD," he said. "Culling is the most brutal route back, but the shortest route back to a feree status."

"We simply don't want it in this country."