Fragments of the diseases have been detected this week in Melbourne, in pork products imported from China, and Adelaide, in an undeclared beef product from Indonesia.

Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney said it is everyone's role to protect the agricultural industry.

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"Biosecurity is everyone's responsibility, and we all need to help protect our agriculture, our economy and our unique natural environment," she said.

"Agriculture Victoria continues to work hard to ensure its staff are prepared for any biosecurity risks from exotic disease such as foot-and-mouth."

Foot-and-mouth particularly affects cattle, sheep, pigs and goats with detrimental effects, and while it would be hugely damaging to local industries, it's not the top disease of concern for Bendigo veterinarian Paul O'Connor.

"They've detected virus fragments in food products - so that's not infective," Dr O'Connor said.

"That's dead virus fragments and that's not particularly unusual.

"That's part of our process of our constant maintenance and surveillance program."

Dr O'Connor said the live foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia is more of an issue and more of a risk factor.

"It's always on Australia's radar and it's always one of our number one risk facts but it's probably not the highest risk, exotic disease at the moment," he said.

Lumpy skin disease that affects cattle or water buffalo is a key concern for Dr O'Connor, with the non-fatal mosquito, fly and fomite borne disease affecting the growth of animals in addition to the characteristic effects on the skin. The disease can be carried by fomites like people, equipment and clothing which adds another difficulty to eradication. Dr O'Connor said experts generally considered the risk of lumpy skin disease coming to Australia as higher than foot-and-mouth.

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African Swine Fever too is a concern, with the highly contagious and deadly viral disease "pretty much endemic around the world" and affecting pet, farmed and wild pigs.

In the worst case scenario and foot-and-mouth disease did arrive in live viral form on Australian shores, Dr O'Connor said the mortality rate is low for the animals but the creatures on affected properties would likely be destroyed.

Mouth blisters, drawling and some lameness would be expected with rare animal deaths from the disease, Dr O'Connor said.

"Around the world they wouldn't destroy them, they'd generally try to vaccinate to prevent it," he said.

"But in Australia because we don't have it [foot-and-mouth disease], the emphasis is on keeping it out.

"So if we get it or if we detected it anywhere in Australia, what we're trying to do is isolate that property and then probably we would destroy all those animals."

Dr O'Connor said the euthanisation would be partly an animal welfare decision to prevent the disease becoming endemic in pigs, cattle, water buffalo and sheep.

"It's also largely an economic decision because if we get foot-and-mouth in Australia, then all our animal exports are immediately stopped," he said.

"That would change over the longer term if it became endemic [but] for the next three to five years, that would spell out a financial disaster for our export industries."

He said that would have a major impact on farming and economics for the foreseeable future like the impact on the UK in 2001.

Rural Aid Australia's CEO John Warlters whose organisation has supported farmers through drought, fire, varroa mite infestations and more, said the message to the community is to be "incredibly careful" and "to play their role in making sure FMD doesn't get to Australia".

"If you're a traveller, that's following all the protocols that you encounter when you come in and out of the country through customs," he said.

"Just play your part and do the right thing and collectively if that's what happens then we absolutely increase our chances of keeping Australia foot-and-mouth disease free - that's what we want it to be."

"The consequences could be just absolutely enormous - it's the loss of livestock, it's the loss of income, it's the reputational damage to a country that trades so heavily off its clean and green image."

For Mr Warlters it is also about the emotional wellbeing of the families that would be impacted.

The Agriculture Victoria website - agriculture.vic.gov.au/fmd has more information about FMD, its signs and actions to reduce its spread as well as what to do if there is a suspected care.

FMD and ASF are notifiable exotic diseases and any suspected or confirmed cases must be reported to Agriculture Victoria on the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline 1800 675 888.

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