Fears deadly African swine fever is set to hit Australia as a tourist is kicked out of the country for trying to bring uncooked pork into an airport
- Vietnamese woman refused entry to Australia at Sydney’s International Airport
- The 45-year-old had tried to bring 4.6kg of uncooked pork into the country
- She was the first person to be turned back under tough new biosecurity laws
- Fears have been raised over African swine fever spreading to Australia
Fears of African swine fever reaching Australia continue to rise after a tourist was caught trying to bring uncooked pork into the country.
The 45-year-old Vietnamese woman was turned back after 4.6kg of raw pork and other food was found in her suitcase at Sydney’s International Airport on Saturday.
She was the first person to be barred from entering the country under tough new bio-security laws brought in to protect Australia’s $5.3billion pork industry, Daily Telegraph reported.
Fears of African swine fever reaching Australia continue to rise after a tourist was caught trying to bring uncooked meat (pictured) into the country
The 45-year-old Vietnamese woman was turned back after 4.6kg of raw pork (pictured) and other food was found in her suitcase at Sydney’s International Airport on Saturday
Over the last nine months the rate of African swine fever found in pork products at Australia’s international airports has jumped from 15 to 50 per cent.
Already 27 tonnes of pig products have been stopped at the country’s border since January.
African swine fever has grown rampant throughout the Asian region since it was first detected in China in August 2018.
The virus causes a haemorrhagic fever within pigs and rapidly kills the animals – sometimes in as little as a week.
The aggressive virus is only dangerous to pigs and not considered a public health threat or food safety concern to people.
Even so the virus is considered a biosecurity threat to Australia and its pig industry and a threat to the country’s 2.5million domestic pig population.
More than 36,000 people rely on the industry for work as well.
Agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie said protecting the industry was a high priority.
‘My job is to protect our farm industries and the hundreds of thousands of jobs they provide,’ she said.
‘Globally we’re known for our safe and clean food and fibre and without that reputation we lose our competitive advantage.’
The Vietnamese woman was the first person to be barred from entering the country under tough new biosecurity laws brought in to protect Australia’s $5.3billion pork industry