Exercise tests disaster readiness

Under the ‘air curtain incineration’ method carcasses are burned in a trench at temperatures reaching 1000C. Picture / Amos Chapple

Foot and Mouth simulation exercises reduced some to tears last week with the realisation of how the disease would devastate this country.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Exercise Taurus tested control systems and the ability of Government agencies to manage an outbreak.

Dorothy Geale, senior adviser for Biosecurity New Zealand, said the simulation brought home the reality of foot and mouth disease.

"One farmer's wife broke down and started crying," she said.

A Reserve Bank report in 2003 estimated that a foot and mouth outbreak would wipe $6 billion off New Zealand's GDP in the first year and $10 billion in the second.

Meat exports would collapse by 80 per cent within the first six months and take almost two years to recover.

The turmoil would result in the loss of 20,000 jobs and send the New Zealand dollar into freefall.

The first phase of the exercise, from March 14 to 18, simulated an outbreak across 109 farms and tested the capabilities of the Exotic Disease Response Centre and field teams.

Visits to five farms assessed procedures for cleaning, disinfection and drafting in veterinarians, many of whom would come from overseas in a real outbreak.

Phase two, held on April 12 and 13, put the National Response Centre in the spotlight and gave Biosecurity NZ the chance to test the "Whole of Government Response Procedures".

Particular attention was paid to livestock movement, vaccination and carcass disposal.

'Air curtain incineration' was tested as a method for carcass disposal in areas where environmental considerations prevented burial.

With this method air is blown into a pit via a long rectangular slit that runs along the base of the mobile 'curtain', helping generate heat levels of up to 1000C and minimising the escape of ash and other particles.

The system can reduce a sheep carcass to a skeleton in just 10 minutes and some 100 sheep and 20 cow carcasses were incinerated during the test.

Geale said the response of international observers was positive, but there was always room for improvement. "No country is ever 100 per cent prepared but we are committed to continually improving our preparedness and things like exercising gives us the chance to really scrutinise our emergency response system."

Quickly putting in place a permit-based system to control animal movement during an outbreak was vital, Geale said.

"We don't want the disease to be spreading while we're trying to work out where it came from."

Outbreak management was split into four areas: disease movement; recovery of the rural environment; trade and food safety; and communication and media.

International observers from Canada, America, Ireland, Australia and Britain monitored the exercise.

Biosecurity Minister Jim Sutton said he was delighted with the co-operation shown between Government departments and industry.

Foot and mouth was a common disease in many countries so there was always a risk of its entering New Zealand.

Foot and Mouth - What to look for

* Sudden onset of lameness in sheep and cattle.

* Animals drooling or off their food.

* Anything that looks like a blister.

* Any concerns - call the MAF hotline: 0800 809-966.