Pig disease outbreak would be 'disaster'
An outbreak of African swine fever in Australia would be akin to a major natural disaster, a Senate committee has heard.
Australian Pork Limited chief executive Margo Andrae said the disease, which has decimated pig herds across Europe and Asia but cannot kill humans, would be devastating given there is no vaccine.
"For producers and employees, the lasting financial, social and emotional devastation would be akin to the worst kind of natural disaster," she told an estimates hearing in Canberra on Tuesday.
