Boulder Sentinel

The unnamed traveler was flying from Bali, Indonesia to Australia, when they found themselves paying a huge price for a McDonald’s breakfast. They were handed a fine of 2,664 Australian dollars ($1,874) after two undeclared egg and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were found in their luggage on arriving at Darwin Airport in the country’s Northern Territory.

The fast food items were detected by by a biosecurity detector dog named Zinta. Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said a “range of undeclared risk products”. Murray Watt, minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, stated that this will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger will have have.

The passenger had been issued with “a 12-unit infringement notice for failing to declare potential high biosecurity risk items and providing a false and misleading document.”

After the highly contagious disease began spreading through cattle in Indonesia, new measures were introduced last month across the country’s borders, including sanitation foot mats at all international airports and biosecurity dogs stationed at both Darwin and Cairns Airport. A $9.8 million biosecurity package.

On July 19, Fisheries and Forestry  stated: “Travelers arriving from Indonesia will be under much stricter biosecurity scrutiny due to the presence of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) in Indonesia. Failing to declare biosecurity risks will mean a breach of Australia’s biosecurity laws, and anyone found in breach could be issued with an infringement notice of up to $2,664.” That is 1,874 in USD.

FMD might be harmless to humans, but it causes painful blisters and lesions on the mouths and feet of cloven-hooved animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and camels, stopping them from eating and causing severe lameness and death in some cases. The disease can be carried not only by live animals buy in meat and dairy products, as well as on the clothing, footwear, or even luggage of people who’ve come into contact with infected animals.