Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been declared endemic in Indonesia, which means Australia is "in for the long haul" in its efforts to prevent a potentially disastrous incursion from our nearest neighbour.
According to the Australian government, Indonesia made the declaration this week, almost a year after the livestock disease was reported there.
Indonesia had previously been free of FMD since 1986.
Its detection sparked widespread fear among Australians that the disease could spread, prompting the introduction of new biosecurity measures at airports.
Australia's chief vet, Mark Schipp, said people should remain alert to the risks for years to come.
"[Indonesia is] moving away from an emergency response and moving into a business-as-usual approach to foot-and-mouth disease," Dr Schipp told the ABC.
"It means that the country of Indonesia will remain infected for an ongoing period of time, and that we need to set up our security settings and arrangements accordingly and not have the expectation that the disease will be quickly dealt with.
"We're in here for the long haul."
Australia has been free of FMD for more than a century, but a widespread outbreak could cost $80 billion over a decade.
Dr Schipp said the change of status in Indonesia had been expected.
He said Indonesia had reported administering more than 12 million doses of an FMD vaccine, including 4 million donated by Australia.
Dr Schipp anticipated Jakarta's vaccine program would continue, with FMD reported in 27 of 38 provinces across Indonesia.
"We're quite confident that the measures that we've got in place at the border are appropriate and keeping the disease out.
"More than 70 countries around the world have foot-and-mouth disease, so it's not a new threat to us, but it will be an ongoing threat."
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the declaration in Indonesia did not change the threat level to Australia.
"We always knew the fight against the spread of FMD would be a marathon, not a sprint," Senator Watt said.
"[The declaration] will not change our determination to keep FMD out; we will keep working with Indonesia to reduce the spread of FMD, particularly to nearby countries like Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea."
An expert analysis last year predicted there was an 11.6 per cent chance of a FMD outbreak in Australia over five years.
Minister says fair system needed to fund biosecurity
In an address to the National Biosecurity Forum on Wednesday, Senator Watt hinted that a new funding model for biosecurity services could be imminent.
"We need to lock in a fair system of paying for it, that shares the cost between taxpayers, risk creators and beneficiaries of the system," he told the forum.
The farm sector has long called for a sustainable funding model for biosecurity.
In 2018 the former Coalition government announced a new freight levy that would tax imports to fund biosecurity services but it was never introduced.
The ABC recently revealed the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry — which is responsible for biosecurity services — is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
