Foot and mouth disease

• Foot and mouth disease (FMD):
  • is the largest known biosecurity threat to New Zealand.
  • spreads faster than other animal diseases including Mycoplasma bovis.
• FMD affects many farmed species and can spread rapidly before animals show signs of disease, potentially affecting many farms before the first case is detected.
• If New Zealand had an outbreak of FMD, dairy, red meat, and pork exports would stop until the disease was eradicated. This could take many months resulting in significant financial and social impact on our rural communities. Foot and mouth can also be very painful for infected animals.
• New Zealand's meat, animal product and dairy production would drop until industries recovered, affecting stock exports, related businesses, and the New Zealand economy (with estimates of ~NZ$16 billion). Read more about the economic impact of FMD on New Zealand.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) affects domestic and wild cloven-hoofed (two-toed) animals including cattle, buffalo, sheep, deer, pigs, goats, llamas and alpacas.

• Not for humans. During an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD), red meat, pork and dairy products can still be consumed by humans.
• All animals on infected properties would be humanely destroyed, and products from these farms wouldn't be used for food.
• Animals can get infected from drinking contaminated milk or eating contaminated, untreated meat e.g. calves and pigs. This is often the way FMD virus arrives in a country and is the reason for our strict biosecurity border controls, and regulations preventing the feeding of animal protein to livestock.

• Foot and mouth virus is an animal health disease and is not considered a risk to human health.
• Infection in humans is extremely rare with only minor symptoms documented.
• Foot and mouth disease is not related to Hand Foot and Mouth disease - a common viral illness in children.

No, foot and mouth disease does not affect other animals such as horses, dogs, cats and birds.

• Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is easy to spread and harder to stop.
• It spreads from one animal to another via breath, saliva, mucous, milk and faeces. It can spread between farms through people and animal movements, contaminated equipment, machinery, trucks and across fence lines.
• FMD can also be carried by wind or water - particularly from infected piggeries. The wind can carry the virus up to several hundred kilometres.
• Calves and pigs drinking contaminated milk or pigs eating contaminated, untreated meat are other ways animals can become infected.
• FMD virus usually enters a country through contaminated animal products (such as ham, salami or waste containing meat products) which are then fed to susceptible animals such as pigs. Therefore it’s essential that any untreated meat or waste that might have contacted with raw meat is not fed to pigs.
• Feral animals (pigs, deer) also represent a pathway for uncontrolled spread.
• Read about the restrictions on feeding pigs untreated meat [PDF]

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in some countries such as parts of central Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Some countries have multiple zones (FMD free, FMD with vaccination or FMD affected e.g., parts of South America).

In May 2022, Indonesia declared an outbreak of FMD after being declared free of the disease for over thirty years. The proximity of this outbreak has heightened the risk to Australia and New Zealand.

• Because of our isolation and strict border controls, the risk of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in New Zealand is considered low.
• New Zealand’s multi-layered biosecurity system includes risk assessment, visual inspections, X-ray screening, scanning technology, and detector dogs to prevent risk goods from being carried into New Zealand by travellers or arriving by mail. All shipping containers and imported goods are assessed for biosecurity risk.
• Animal products and feed (including PKE -Palm Kernel Extract) can only be imported in line with Government importing requirements.
• However, there is a heightened risk with FMD now closer to New Zealand, having recently spread to Indonesia and Bali in 2022, so it’s important everyone plays their role in keeping it out.
• FMD is easy to spread and hard to stop – so prevention and early detection are key.

The risk of PKE carrying foot and mouth disease (FMD) is low because of the heat processes used to produce it and the strong import health standards in place for products coming from Indonesia, especially PKE.

Biosecurity NZ experts visited Indonesia to do an on-the-ground check of the palm kernel supply chain and they’ve reported strict FMD requirements are being met by the PKE industry.

• Foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines are only effective if the virus is detected in New Zealand.
• As there are multiple strains of the FMD virus, the vaccine must match the strain to be effective.
• Vaccination can be used to control the spread of FMD during an outbreak by reducing how much and how fast the virus spreads.
• If FMD is detected here, New Zealand has guaranteed access to vaccines to help manage an FMD outbreak. Vaccines could be ready to roll out within days and there is the capacity to rapidly manufacture more if needed.

• If you are travelling overseas, follow all biosecurity advice carefully and declare risk material on your arrival to New Zealand on your passenger arrival card.
• We strongly urge anyone who was in contact with livestock in Indonesia, or in any country that has foot and mouth disease (FMD), to stay away from susceptible animals in New Zealand for one week.
• Practise good farm biosecurity by following these steps:
  • Ensure your NAIT (National Animal Identification and Tracing) records are up to date and all movements recorded within 48 hours.
  • Ensure robust biosecurity plans are in place for your farm by using the Biosecurity Planner and displaying the Biosecurity sign.
  • Encourage anyone who was in contact with livestock in Indonesia, or in any country that has foot and mouth disease, to stay away from susceptible animals in New Zealand for one week.
  • Ensure your clean on/off practises when visiting farms are up to scratch: How to clean and disinfect footwear on-farm
  • Cleaning and applying an approved disinfectant can kill the virus on objects such as footwear, vehicles, clothing and farm equipment. For disinfection to be effective, it is important that items are cleaned first.
  • Purchase stock from reputable suppliers and ask about stock animal health status.
• Do not feed untreated meat products to animals, especially pigs. Meat products are a risk pathway for FMD and other diseases e.g. African Swine Fever (ASF).
• Report any suspect FMD symptoms immediately to your vet or the MPI pest and disease hotline 0800 80 99 66.

• Report any suspect foot and mouth (FMD) symptoms immediately to your vet or the MPI pest and disease hotline 0800 80 99 66.
• If your situation leads MPI to suspect FMD, a skilled investigator will be sent to your property. You may be asked to take the following precautions before they arrive:
  • Muster and isolate the suspect animals.
  • Muster any animals that have been in contact with suspect animals.
  • Close all gates to the property and restrict the movement of people and vehicles on and off the property.
  • Avoid any contact with neighbouring stock.

• MPI will immediately notify the New Zealand Government and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) that New Zealand has foot and mouth disease (FMD).
• An immediate halt is placed on all exporting of products from FMD suspected animals.
• All animal products en route to trading partners are returned to New Zealand.
• The Prime Minister will announce FMD has been confirmed and a National Biosecurity Emergency is declared.
• The goals of a National Biosecurity Emergency include finding, containing, and controlling FMD as fast as possible through a National Livestock Standstill, stamping out the disease and regaining New Zealand’s FMD-free status as soon as possible while aiming to minimise the impact on people and animal welfare.

• A national livestock standstill means all movement of farm stock susceptible to foot and mouth disease (FMD) must stop as quickly as possible.
• This is needed in the early stages of an FMD outbreak to reduce the spread of the disease and make it easier to manage a national livestock standstill.

If New Zealand had an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD), MPI would initiate the FMD response plan.