The state's livestock producers are being urged to strengthen their on-farm biosecurity and keep a close eye on their herds and flocks for any signs of lameness.
PIRSA's chief vet Mary Carr acknowledges everyone is concerned about foot and mouth disease getting into the country and says the issue is her top priority.
"It is a catastrophic disease because of the market impacts and significant response required to manage it, but we also have a long history of managing to remain FMD free when our borders have been open to many countries that have had outbreaks of the disease," she said.
"This gives us some level of confidence that our (border) requirements are enough but we are looking at the risks in detail to see if there are any additional activities we need to look at."
Dr Carr says they are working closely with Livestock SA, SA Dairy Association and Pork SA to distribute information, to producers and across the supply chain.
This included helping educate producers about knowing the symptoms and reporting any unexplained lameness to the Emergency Animal Disease Watch hotline on 1800 675 888.
She said FMD could be much more subtle in sheep than cattle, which developed far more noticeable lesions in the junction between hair and the hoof and mouth lesions.
It was also critical that no prohibited pig feed (swill feeding) occurred.
Dr Carr said now was the time for producers to make sure all their livestock movements were up to date on the National Livestock Identification System database, making the tracking of animals easier.
In the event of a FMD outbreak, there would be a stand-still order, which was likely to be a minimum of 72 hours, so Dr Carr said producers should be preparing to have enough fodder and water on hand for at least this period of time.
She assured SA producers if the worst occurred, they would not be left on their own to deal with the disaster.
"It really depends on the situation we are dealing with. There are a range of different disposal options but our preferred method is disposal on farm as we would want to minimise the movements as much as we can and we will bring people in to treat and disinfect any affected property," she said.
She said the Emergency Animal Disease Response Plan would be triggered with PIRSA the lead agency in SA.
"There are processes in place to scale up a range of resources, from bringing in the army and other agencies to the police and national support, in a similar way to what happened in the Kangaroo Island bushfires," Dr Carr said.
"SA has an advantage in some ways, we have got good engagement by industry groups who have worked together on quite a few issues - if we all work together we can manage to get through this.
"If you are not a member of your industry body such as Livestock SA, I urge you to join because that is how we will be communicating first."
With less than 50 days to go until the Royal Adelaide Show, organisers are also looking closely at ensuring any risk is minimised.
Show general manager Michelle Hocking said they would follow all of PIRSA's advice but at this stage it was "business as usual" with no plans to restrict the public's access to livestock pavilions or judging rings.
"We think it would be very low risk. If someone is flying in from Denpasar, what are the chances they would go straight to the Royal show without changing their clothes or their shoes and then walk among the livestock?" she said.
"We know they are prized beasts and people bring their best as they want to win the blue ribbon so we will do everything we need to do to ensure there is no risk."
Ms Hocking said the show was also developing a plan for the more likely scenario of animals needing to remain on the grounds for an extended period of time in the event of a stand still.
Waikerie sheep producer Brenton Kroehn says the threat of FMD is a "massive concern".
"Once we have it there is no going back so we have to keep it out at all costs," he said.
He welcomed the federal government's increased spending on biosecurity but said more needed to be done, backing calls for incoming travellers from Bali to dispose of their shoes.
"Most of them will be wearing flip flops anyway so even if we gave out new shoes, what is say 4000 pairs of thongs compared to the huge cost to industry if it gets here," he said.
Mr Kroehn, who runs the Borung Poll Merino stud, is also conscious of the importance of a good biosecurity plan and is presently reviewing his plan, including planning to put up signs and more carefully monitor people coming onto his farm.
Opposition primary industries spokesperson Nicola Centofanti says the state government is not doing enough to protect SA from the insidious disease.
She wants to see them to step up biosecurity measures at Adelaide airport, including installing footwear disposal bins and disinfectant stations. She also wants to see the state government to help prevent FMD entering SA by an advertising campaign to raise awareness.
"As a veterinarian, the utterance of FMD causes an intense feeling of fear," Dr Centofanti said.
"An uncontrolled outbreak of FMD in Australia would see mass slaughtering of our cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs and will bring our meat export market to an immediate closure.
"The impact to our agricultural sector would also flow through to the cost of food production, placing unwelcomed pressure on the cost-of-living which is already the number one issue for many households."