The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will offer a free online foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) awareness course to boost people’s knowledge of this serious disease.
Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Allison Crook said the online course is part of a range of informative materials aimed at livestock producers and people working in the livestock industry.
“We are running a significant communications campaign to raise awareness of FMD and the significant adverse consequences an incident would have for our livestock industry and the economy,” she said.
“We have made available a series of online videos outlining important details of FMD and measures everyone can take to prevent an incident. Within the past month alone, the videos have been viewed more than 80,000 times. That’s a fantastic response. As well as the videos, we have direct mailed guides, brochures and fact sheets to more than 27,000 industry stakeholders around Queensland.
“What we’re really encouraging people to do now is to go online and complete the free online awareness course. It takes about 40 minutes to complete.
The course covers first-hand accounts of overseas FMD outbreaks, how FMD could be introduced to Australia, how animals may be infected, how the virus can spread, how to recognise and report clinical signs of FMD and the plan if a local FMD incident occurs.
For more information visit www.daf.qld.gov.au
