The Australian mouse plague, described by local officials as a ‘decaying body’, is more than a rural disaster. It is a strategic vulnerability. British farming groups are watching closely because this is a textbook case of agricultural collapse triggered by a non-human actor.
The infestation has reached plague proportions in New South Wales, with estimates of tens of millions of mice. Grain stores are contaminated, machinery is destroyed, and rural communities face a public health crisis. The logistical nightmare is compounded by the fact that standard control measures are failing.
The mice are developing bait resistance, and the sheer biomass of rodents overwhelms infrastructure. This is not a natural disaster; it is a systemic failure of biosecurity and preparedness. For UK agriculture, the threat vector is clear.
Our grain storage facilities, our supply chains, and our pest management strategies are similarly fragile. A high-consequence event like this could pivot a nation from exporter to importer overnight. The Ministry of Defence should be taking notes.
If a state actor weaponised rodent populations, the effect would be indistinguishable from a biological attack. The Australian plague is a live-fire exercise for British contingency planners. We have a narrow window to harden our defences before the next wave of rodent migration reaches our shores.
