Australian farmers fear foot-and-mouth disease could come into their country from Indonesia

Further fears come from warnings that holiday makers returning from popular destination Bali could accidentally bring the disease into the country. Vets reckon that flights from Bali to Australia pose the greatest biosecurity risk. The cattle industry in Australia says an outbreak of foot-and-mouth could cost the it $100 billion (£58bn). The last time the disease was diagnosed in the country was over 100 years ago.

The source of the outbreak in Indonesia is thought to be goats smuggled into the country from its northern island chain neighbour Malaysia. The rising cost of meat across the globe has sparked a growth in illegal animal protein smuggling as shoppers look to stretch their budget. Thousands of cattle are now believed to be infected across the provinces of East Java and Aceh, but the disease may have already spread further. The outbreak occurred during Lebaran, a national holiday during which many Indonesians travel across the country.

Veteran meat industry analyst Simon Quilty agreed that if Australian tourism to Bali bounced back to its pre-Covid average of 1.3 million people per year, the risk of Australian tourists bringing the disease back was severe. The Australian Government announced a $14m (£8m) package of biosecurity measures this week for airports and mail centres. Detector dogs and foot mats have already been deployed as well as one million doses of foot-and-mouth vaccine, which has been sent to Indonesia.

Read more: Vets rule out foot-and-mouth disease - but investigate for Swine vesicular disease

On top of these foot-and-mouth fears, another damaging disease is on the horizon for Australian farmers. Cattle Council of Australia president Lloyd Hick said the threat of lumpy skin disease was far greater and would likely justify the inspection of every piece of luggage arriving from Indonesia.

The disease, which is transferred to cattle via vectors such as mosquitos, feedstock and contaminated equipment, has already spread from Africa to Indonesia in less than a decade.

Infection from lumpy skin disease can give livestock fever, depression, and characteristic skin nodules. There may also be a marked reduction in milk yield as well as abortion in pregnant animals.

If lumpy skin disease (LSD) was to hit Australia, the nation would suffer substantial trade impacts because it would no longer be a country recognised as LSD free.

Mr Hick told Australian newspaper The Courier Mail that the disease would 'be very hard for the industry to get a hold of' if it was found in Australia and said the 'hype' around foot-and-mouth disease could be a distraction.

He said LSD was already 'less than 100km from Australia's northern border' and could 'quite conceivably blow across in the wind' during summer when winds from the north were strong.