Government response and recovery plan for foot and mouth disease
A New Zealand Government plan released in December 2018 sets out how the country would respond to and recover from an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD). This plan is currently under review.
The 2018 plan provides information on:
- coordination arrangements at a national level
- the disease and its impact
- how the New Zealand Government will manage a response and recovery effort.
It is for the highest levels of government: ministers, chief executives, senior officials, and other personnel involved in a response and recovery effort.
The NZ Government's foot and mouth disease response and recovery plan [PDF, 6.2 MB]
Disease management strategy for foot and mouth disease
The Foot and mouth disease response and recovery plan sets out how the country would respond to and recover from an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD).
A new (2023) disease management strategy is one of a suite of documents that sit underneath this plan. The strategy sets out the disease management activities New Zealand will undertake to respond to a foot and mouth disease outbreak, in the unlikely event it occurred here.
The disease management strategy has been developed in collaboration with primary sector industry bodies, iwi, and other government agencies.
The strategy is a key product of a 2022 task force programme to review and enhance a wide range of preparedness plans for foot and mouth disease.
It demonstrates New Zealand's capability to manage the disease to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and puts us alongside partner countries Australia, UK, Canada, and the US who also publish management strategies for foot and mouth disease.
The strategy is a living document and will have further review to account for changes in the WOAH codes and advances in technologies and strategies.
Disease management strategy for foot and mouth disease [PDF, 2.9 MB]
Foot and mouth disease preparedness – independent review 2022
This independent review of New Zealand’s foot and mouth disease readiness assesses the state of the Ministry for Primary Industries’ current (2022) plans for a foot and mouth disease outbreak and how these plans and decision-making structures can be further strengthened.
The review took place in parallel with a significant ministry task force work programme which, through 25 projects, reviewed, updated, and strengthened existing plans for an outbreak.
Some outcomes of the task force programme include:
- development of the new disease management strategy that outlines New Zealand's approach to stamping out foot and mouth disease
- a strategic playbook that guides the main actions carried out by key participants in the event of an outbreak
- a framework for engagement with Māori to ensure Māori perspectives are incorporated into any foot and mouth disease response
- an all-of-government foot and mouth disease communications plan and associated advertising material
- establishment of a new FMD Pacific Biosecurity team, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with 8 successful biosecurity engagements with Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands
- enhanced sector and cross-government relationships.
The review focuses on 6 general areas.
- System preparedness.
- System leadership.
- MPI’s role.
- Building and sustaining information systems.
- Planning for post-incursion recovery.
- Communications.
The review report makes 39 separate recommendations, which are either underway, being established as ongoing programmes of work, or completed.
Independent review report – Foot and mouth disease preparedness [PDF, 2.6 MB]
Working with government agencies and other partners in a response to foot and mouth disease
If we ever have an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the plan will require an all-of-government response.
MPI would lead the biosecurity response and action the plans. Many New Zealand agencies would have important roles – for example:
- Police and the New Zealand Defence Force would help with on-the-ground operations, such as controlling the movement of livestock and other risk goods.
- Regional councils would support local field operations.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and MPI would negotiate the earliest possible resumption of international trade in animal products.
- Treasury and the Reserve Bank would monitor and manage the effects on the New Zealand economy.
- MPI, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment would help individual farmers, rural communities, and primary production businesses with welfare and recovery.
Primary industry sector bodies, including Government Industry Agreement partners, local authorities and iwi will all play important roles in a foot and mouth disease response.
Surveillance and reporting
Surveillance and reporting of suspicious clinical signs are vital to foot and mouth disease readiness. MPI has a 24-hour hotline for people to report suspected exotic pests and diseases (such as foot and mouth disease). The hotline makes reporting quick and easy and helps us to detect a disease outbreak as soon as possible.
Freephone our pest and disease hotline on 0800 80 99 66.
Network of vets to investigate reports
MPI maintains a network of trained veterinarians around the country to investigate reports of suspected exotic diseases. These initial investigating vets are often local vets that have received special training in exotic disease recognition. They are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so they can be at a property within hours of a report on our hotline.
If the initial investigating vet can't rule out foot and mouth disease, a highly trained MPI vet (an incursion investigator) will go to the property, as soon as possible, to provide a second opinion.
MPI's Animal Health Laboratory in Wallaceville specialises in testing for exotic animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease. If the incursion investigator can't rule out foot and mouth (or another exotic disease), they will collect samples and send them to the lab to identify the disease.
Tracking tools
Locating livestock during an outbreak is critical to containing and eradicating this disease. It's also critical we can trace livestock movements that have happened before foot and mouth disease is discovered, to show where the disease might have spread to. New Zealand has a key tool to help us locate and track cattle and deer.
The National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) system is an online tool used to record movements of cattle and deer. It can provide fast and accurate tracing to support disease management.
Movements of groups of sheep in New Zealand are traceable using mandatory Animal Status Declarations (ASD).
OSPRI has recently implemented electronic ASDs as part of the My OSPRI application available to all cattle, sheep, and deer farmers. This can currently record sheep movements between farm properties and between farms and meat processors.
Who to contact
If you think you've seen a case of foot and mouth disease, call your local vet immediately – they will contact MPI's pest and disease hotline. If a vet isn't available, contact our hotline directly on 0800 80 99 66.
If you have questions about the disease, email info@mpi.govt.nz
