FOLLOWING weeks of media reports of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia and confirmation of 63 cases in Bali on Monday, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry minister, Murray Watt, said on Wednesday afternoon that strengthened measures have been imposed including assessment of all passengers on flights from Indonesia to Australia.

The previous Federal Government removed Indonesia from the department’s FMD-free country list in May 2022, following confirmation by Indonesia authorities of an outbreak of the viral animal disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals (those with divided hoofs), including cattle, buffalo, camels, sheep, goats, deer and pigs.