A senate inquiry into the adequacy of Australia's biosecurity system has been told the number of foot and mouth cases in Indonesia has plateaued since the incidence of new cases peaked on the archipelago in June.
Dr Chris Parker, from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, told the inquiry that authorities still remained on high alert as they worked to prevent the disease from entering Australia.
"Our endgame is to assist them to get it under control," he told the inquiry.
"If it's under control, they're no different from the 70 countries around the world that have FMD (foot and mouth disease), and that then reduces the risk of incursion into Australia from a close neighbour."
Dr Parker said the latest figures showed about 575,000 animals have been infected with foot and mouth in Indonesia, which is up by about 1000 in the past few days.
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