Bega Saleyards went into hypothetical lockdown on Thursday as Local Land Services led a livestock standstill exercise to prepare for potential biosecurity threats.
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The training exercise brought together the Department of Primary Industries, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Police, local council and livestock agents, producers and transporters.
The standstill exercise focused on their responsibilities in the event of a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.
District Veterinarian for Local Land Services in Bega Helen Shaefer said although unlikely, the industry must be prepared for an outbreak.
"If it happens, we don't want to be caught like deer in the headlights and we don't want to be running around like headless chooks either," she said.
She stressed the highly contagious nature of FMD.
"One teaspoon of infected cow poo contains 10 million doses of the virus, and it takes 12 doses to infect a cow."
Local manager for Local Land Services in Berry Paul Lyddiard oversaw the standstill scenario at Bega Saleyards.
"We need to plan what our immediate response would be in this area," he said. "It means stopping trucks, calling in quarantine and assessing the risk spreading."
Fire and Rescue NSW conducted a demonstration of how vehicles and people would be decontaminated.
FRNSW Southern Highlands duty commander Alan Gerrard said decontamination was invasive, but necessary.
"A contaminated person will be showered and their clothing and possessions will be quarantined for six months," he said.
Contaminated vehicles need to be hosed down, with vigilance paid to water runoff to dams and paddocks.
NSW chief veterinary officer at DPI Christine Middlemiss told her cautionary tale of FMD’s dramatic consequences.
Ms Middlemiss was on the ground as a veterinarian during the 2001 outbreak of FMD in the United Kingdom. The outbreak cost the UK economy AU$19billion.
"It was harrowing, you try to do the best job you can in a terrible situation," she said.
Ms Middlemiss said it was great to see so many people at the exercise.
"For everyone to get to know each others names and faces today, it's so important in an emergency situation," she said.
Bega Saleyards manager David Boag was also glad with the turnout.
"Everyone has been really enthusiastic in their learning and taking on their responsibilities," he said.
"We get 1000 head of cattle through here a month, so the consequences would be huge."
It is predicted that a FMD outbreak could cost the Australian economy between $7-12billion.