A MISINFORMATION blunder by a major bank, misleading headlines and scare-inducing social media discussion have led to calls for responsible reporting and discussion of the foot-and-mouth disease situation.
Viral fragments of FMD, not the live virus, were found in imported meat products at Melbourne and Adelaide airports last week.
While those fragments presented a risk if unwittingly fed to animals, they did not pose a threat to human health and did not impact on Australia's FMD-free status, according to authorities.
Industry leaders including Livestock SA chief executive officer Travis Tobin and Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Patrick Hutchinson voiced concerns about potential impacts of irresponsible FMD reporting on Australia's livestock and meat trade, following the week of intensifying coverage.
National Australia Bank caused alarm among agricultural clients last week, sending out a Commodities Grains Daily update via email, which incorrectly stated that FMD had been identified in Australia and had caused a three-day halt of livestock movement across the country.
When contacted by Stock Journal, NAB said they had quickly identified the "overstatement" and had started running a correction the following day.
"A correction to a statement in yesterday's Grains Daily, where the following sentence was included: "Foot and Mouth disease has now been identified in Australia, prompting a three-day halt of all livestock movement across the country"," the NAB correction read.
"This statement misstated reporting that "an immediate three-day standstill on livestock movements would be implemented if the disease were to reach Australia".
"Our understanding at this time is that Australia is currently free from the live Foot and Mouth Disease virus."
Online headlines stemming from the airport discoveries included 'Foot and mouth disease detected in Australia' from 9 News, The Australian, WAToday, Brisbane Times and insideFMCG, 'Foot and mouth disease detected in Adelaide as airports ramp up biosecurity measures' from Sky News, and 'Farmers on alert after foot and mouth disease detected in Australia' from The Age.
Mr Hutchinson, head of the peak body representing meat retailers, processors and smallgoods manufacturers in Australia, said "sensationalist reporting" and the NAB faux pas were "disappointing beyond belief".
"It is just sheer disappointment to see people, from heads of breed societies, to farm leaders, to politicians of both flavours across the country spreading misinformation," he said.
"They're not recognising the mental anguish they're causing based on the opinions they're putting forth on an issue they have had limited exposure to.
"I've been the public face of this issue for the last week, which is fine, but it is so difficult to be out there to explain why cooler heads need to prevail.
"It is just beyond belief for a country that has invested millions and millions of dollars into exotic disease preparedness over the past twenty years, that some people that should know better have just lost their minds and frightened industry and frightened customers.
"A lot of people need to have a good hard look at themselves."
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Mr Hutchinson said he had seen many cases of media "lazily" re-publishing social media viewpoints as fact without any evidence, data or balance.
Australia's chief veterinary officer Mark Schipp, the federal government and national agricultural peak bodies should be the sources people went to if they were unsure of the veracity of information or reports, according to Mr Hutchinson.
He said the discovery of viral FMD fragments in two airports last week was an example of Australia's biosecurity system working and a Bali flight ban was unnecessary, though he called for more surveillance of people coming back, and blanket screenings of all bags.
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Livestock SA's Travis Tobin said it had been disappointing to see inaccurate headlines about FMD detection, and misinformation could potentially have negative implications on beef trade.
"Everyone has a biosecurity obligation and the media's is to report fact, not sensationalism," he said.
"You don't have to look too far back, particularly in red meat, where other countries have seized opportunities to put trade barriers in place or looked for price discounts on high-quality Australian product.
To keep producers up to date with accurate information, Mr Tobin said Livestock SA had set up a dedicated emergency animal disease page on their website and were sending out direct FMD member updates.
He reassured people there were long standing government and industry structures and protocols in place for a situation like this and also called on travellers to take individual responsibility and take their obligations seriously upon arrival back into Australia.
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Adam Merry, a beef and lamb producer south of Meningie with wife Andrea, said he had found initial reports about FMD fragments misleading, with factual reports slower to come out.
"I have done little searching for updates, but the information I am aware of has come through daily emails, news reports and social media.
"The common thread of coverage for me is just the repetitiveness of what an FMD outbreak will cost our country, but little on what has actually been put in place to combat the threat and why foot mats etc have taken so long to be implemented.
"Even in today's (Tuesday) reports, there are cases of foot mats and basic biosecurity measures still not being in place at Australian airports and I find that to be extremely unsatisfactory and frustrating."
Mr Merry said producers were also hearing little regarding the prevalence of FMD in Indonesia and the impact it was having on their livestock, "making the unknown that bit scarier".
"The unknowns are the real worry, as it could quite quickly become something that beats the system and then we are all in huge trouble across numerous sectors, not just those in the ag space," he said.
