Indonesia has temporarily banned imports of live cattle from one Australian property, as investigations continue into how more than 100 cattle died on the Brahman Express that sailed from Darwin.
The shock deaths have industry on tenterhooks that further trade could be disrupted as it relies on Indonesia to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars worth of live cattle each year.
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry won’t say exactly how many cattle died on the voyage but has confirmed a high rate of mortality was reported by the exporter.
In a statement, Indonesia’s Director of Animal Husbandry Nuryani Zainuddin said the Indonesian government had “received information from the Australian government”.
“The ministry of agriculture and the Indonesian quarantine body will work together with the Australian government to conduct investigation on the case.
“While the investigation is ongoing the ministry of agriculture will temporarily suspend one registered premises from being a cattle supplier.”
The Brahman Express has capacity to transport more than 4,000 cattle, but it’s unclear how many had been loaded when the ship sailed from the Northern Territory earlier this month.
The dead cattle have been traced back to one property in the NT.
The RSPCA, which opposes live exports, said it had learned “hundreds of cattle” had died in the voyage.
Botulism suspected
Australia’s chief vet Beth Cookson has told the ABC that the cattle that died on board the Brahman Express showed no signs to indicate a disease such as foot and mouth or lumpy skin disease.
“As a part of the investigation into the cause of the mortalities on the vessel, the department is working closely with the exporter and the Northern Territory government to understand why the mortality event has occurred … that has included sending veterinary officers to the registered establishment that prepared the cattle and it has been identified that a number of cattle [that were not exported] have also died within that facility.”
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Dr Cookson said the NT government had made a presumptive diagnosis that the deaths on the property were caused by botulism.
“Botulism is a common bacterium globally, including in Australia, it’s only under very specific environmental conditions that the bacteria starts to generate a toxin, that is essentially when eaten, or is contaminating water, creates this condition in cattle.
“So what we suspect has occurred is that the exposure occurred prior to export, and that the cattle when they were inspected for export were not showing any clinical signs of disease but that that disease developed once they were on the livestock voyage.”
Dr Cookson said the investigation was ongoing.
Incubation for botulism in cattle can be up to 17 days, and is typically fatal.
It is not contagious and is considered endemic in the NT.
There is a vaccine that is available for botulism in cattle.
Sensitive trade
Australia typically sells hundreds of millions of dollars of live cattle to Indonesia for slaughter each year.
Last year exports were suspended from four Australian facilities when Jakarta raised concerns about Australian cattle that tested positive to lumpy skin disease in Indonesia.
Lumpy skin disease and foot and mouth disease were reported in Indonesia in 2022.
There have also been weeks-long delays to trade permits to export, a situation rectified earlier this year.
Australia remains free of the diseases, which would have wide-ranging ramifications for Australian farmers and exporters.
In 2011, the Gillard government announced a snap ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia, which was found by the Federal Court to be unlawful.
Posted 11h ago11 hours agoWed 27 Mar 2024 at 5:17am, updated 10h ago10 hours agoWed 27 Mar 2024 at 5:56am
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