Indonesia is ramping up its preparedness for future exotic disease outbreaks including foot and mouth disease with support from Australia.
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As a standby measure, animal health company Medical Ethics is working with Indonesian ag-vet company Nutricell Pacific to register the popular pain relief product Tri-Solfen as a rapid response treatment for future outbreaks in the region.
Tri-Solfen has been shown to be an effective treatment for FMD, with the acidic pH (around 2.7) of the formulation helping to kill off the virus.
The distinctive blue gel has also been trialled to treat lumpy skin disease.
Neither disease is present in Australia and efforts have been strengthened at the border to help prevent an incursion of the diseases.
Professor Emeritus Peter Windsor from the University of Sydney said Tri-Solfen may be an inexpensive and effective solution to treat FMD, instead of the antibiotics currently used.
Prof Windsor said FMD was a debilitating disease resulting in a fever that could last a few days typically followed by "incredibly painful" blisters on and inside the mouth and on the feet.
The blisters caused lameness, excessive salivation, lack of appetite, loss of body condition and occasionally, mastitis and abortion.
"After clinical trials in Laos and Cameroon, results have shown emphatically that when Tri-Solfen is applied to FMD lesions, infected animals return to eating and walking normally within just a few days," Prof Windsor said.
"In affected countries, use of antibiotics for FMD is common, but this approach increases the risk of creating long-term antimicrobial resistance with potential food safety risks when these animals are marketed."
The World Organisation for Animal Health said up to 32 million livestock around the globe are believed to become infected with FMD each year, costing an estimated $7 billion a year in lost production.
The highly contagious animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep and goats.
Developed in Australia as a pain relief treatment for common animal husband practices including dehorning and castration, Tri-Solfen contains two topical anaesthetics: lignocaine and bupivacaine, as well as adrenaline to stop bleeding and the antiseptic cetramide.
Tri-Solfen is applied directly to the nose and feet of FMD affected animals, creating a lasting barrier over the lesions, numbing the pain, reducing infection and encouraging healing.
Prof Windsor said the anti-bacterial properties in Tri-Solfen cleverly avoided the need for other treatments, including antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
"This pain-free effect is estimated to last over 24 hours and is sufficient to kill or reduce the virus load without causing pain to the animal," Prof Windsor said.
Prof Peter Windsor has been involved in trials throughout Laos and Indonesia , and notes that even though the effects of FMD are greatly reduced with herd immunity vaccination programs, outbreaks can still occur to a much lesser extent, and animals are easily treated to increase healing times.
FMD virus is carried by live animals and in meat and dairy products, as well as in soil, bones, untreated hides, vehicles and equipment used with susceptible animals. It can also be carried on people's clothing and footwear and survive in frozen, chilled and freeze-dried foods.
An incursion of the virus would have severe consequences for Australia's animal health and trade.
The latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease was first detected in cattle in May 2022, before spreading to a number of Indonesian provinces.
Indonesia responded with a massive vaccination program with a support of a number of other countries, including Australia.
CSIRO estimates a multi-state FMD outbreak in Australia could cost the Australian economy up to $50 billion over 10 years, primarily due to trade restrictions.
- Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.