A foot-and-mouth disease vaccine is in use overseas, so why isn't Australia using it to protect our livestock?

The federal government has committed millions of dollars to a vaccine campaign to stamp out foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia, leaving some Australian producers wondering why it isn't vaccinating local livestock against the highly contagious virus. Key points: Australia would lose export markets if livestock were pre-emptively vaccinated against FMD before it was detected Australia doesn't make or store the vaccine onshore because labs are banned from working with the live virus Research shows vaccination isn't always the most effective control strategy If the disease were to reach Australia from Indonesia, a widespread outbreak would shut down Australia's trade in beef, sheepmeat, goat, dairy and wool, costing the Australian economy an estimated $80 billion in losses over 10 years. On Friday, the government committed $5 million for a technical support package for Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea to manage livestock disease While the virus has been spreading in Indonesia since May, its recent spread to the popular resort island Bali intensified concerns about it reaching Australian shores. If a local outbreak were to occur, Australia's FMD-free status could be restored within three months of the last detected case if the disease was controlled using a slaughter-only approach and surveillance was undertaken, under rules set by the OIE, the World Organisation for Animal Health.