December 18, 2019
Indonesia has confirmed it has detected African Swine Fever in North Sumatra, and is investigating pig deaths in some other provinces.
Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie said the news was concerning, especially as Indonesia — and particularly Bali — were so popular with Australian tourists.
“There are about 188 flights a week from Indonesia direct into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin,” Minister McKenzie said.
“Bali is a favourite holiday destination for Australians and it’s also a region with a lot of pigs.
“My department has already raised the risk status of flights from Indonesia and is increasing screening, interventions and scrutiny of travellers in line with the procedures we use to manage flights arriving from other ASF-affected countries.
“I’d appeal to anyone travelling between Australia and Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia to be extra diligent about declaring what they’re bringing back in, and to clean shoes and any other outdoor equipment.
“This virus is exceptionally hardy and can live in frozen meat for up to two years and in things like blood for six years.
“It can be spread by people going into an affected area and taking the virus out on their shoes, or through pigs eating scraps that contain affected product.
“We have a zero tolerance approach to people who lie about what they have in their luggage and we’ve refused entry to Australia for six people caught with biosecurity risk material.
“If returning Australians do the same, they could face criminal prosecution or civil court action, and be ordered to pay up to $420,000 and be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.
“That is how seriously we’re taking this threat.
“In less than a year we’ve seized 32 tonnes of pork from air travellers and recent testing showed that about 50 per cent of seized product contained African Swine Fever.”
African Swine Fever kills up to 80 per cent of pigs infected, but is not dangerous to human health.
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