Visitors to farm and station stays these holidays are reminded to keep Western Australia’s animals safe from emergency diseases by following a few simple biosecurity measures.
Albany-based Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) field veterinary officer Rob Graham said farm and station stays were growing increasingly popular with international tourists and city families.
“Children and international visitors enjoy the opportunity to interact with farm animals by patting and feeding them, as well as helping with farm activities like collecting the eggs,” Dr Graham said.
“While this is a rewarding experience, it presents the risk of introducing an emergency animal disease to WA if visitors do not follow good biosecurity during their farm or station stay.
“The first biosecurity measure is to tell your host if you have recently returned from overseas or visited another farm as additional biosecurity precautions may be needed.
“The second is to arrive at the farm or station with clean shoes and clean clothes and to wash your hands before and after touching the animals.
“If you have had contact with other livestock or visited other farms or stations, you can carry diseases on your hands, shoes and clothing that will not harm you but can spread to livestock.
“Most importantly, it is vital to only feed the animals with feed provided by the owner.”
Dr Graham said visitors should be aware that feeding meat or meat products was illegal across Australia, as it could introduce the devastating diseases foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever.
“With foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and lumpy skin disease present in neighbouring countries and many other parts of the world, it is more important than ever for tourists and other visitors to play their part in protecting our animals and farms,” he said.
“Farm and station stay visitors are reminded to follow all biosecurity instructions provided by the owner, which may include only driving on marked roads with your vehicle and parking where indicated.”
For more information about emergency animal diseases, visit the DPIRD website.
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