Pork products for sale in Melbourne’s central business district have been found to contain foot-and-mouth disease viral fragments, and several other pork products have tested positive for African swine fever fragments.
According to Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, the products, which were imported from China, were discovered during routine retail exercises and have since been seized from a number of supermarkets and a Melbourne warehouse.
An undeclared beef product that tested positive for foot and mouth viral fragments was discovered on a passenger who had just returned from Indonesia.
Despite the alarming findings, Mr. Watt claimed that the biosecurity system was still in operation.
“Despite this, Australia does remain free from foot and mouth disease, and free from African swine fever,” Mr Murray said.
“The fact that these pork products came from China rather than Indonesia show that this is not only an issue about what’s happening in Indonesia.”
