MEDIA RELEASE
5 February 2008
As a result of the equine influenza outbreak more than a third of all livestock producers have changed their practices to protect livestock from disease.
Research findings released today by Animal Health Australia (AHA), showed that while 72% of farmers feel that they are now well informed about how animal diseases can be spread, many don't actually understand where they may be vulnerable.
AHA Manager Disease Risk Mitigation Duncan Rowland said that the EI outbreak had led to a new focus on farm biosecurity for all livestock producers, not just those with horses.
"2007 gave us a sobering reminder of the need for good farm biosecurity practices to protect livestock from disease, as producers could see how much horse owners and the industry as a whole were suffering," Mr Rowland said.
Mr Rowland said that despite livestock producers' fresh interest and concern, the survey showed that many didn't necessarily understand the risks.
"While many producers thought moving animals would be the most likely way to transmit disease - and they're right - only 17% saw people movement as a high risk, which is of concern," Mr Rowland said.
"During the EI outbreak we saw that much of the disease spread was actually caused by people and equipment as they carried disease from one horse to the next."
Mr Rowland said that Animal Health Australia's new online resource for farmers, www.farmbiosecurity.com.au , was designed to help farmers understand and address the risks to their enterprises.
Other research highlights included:
- 68% of farmers feel confident that their farm would be protected in the event of a disease outbreak.
- Horse owners were the most likely to have changed the way they operate, with nearly half completely reviewing their procedures.
- Horse owners were the most proactive in changing the daily operations of their farm to strengthen biosecurity. However, they were the least confident that their property would be fully protected.
Animal Health Australia is now looking to improve farmers' on farm practice for protection against any future emergency animal disease outbreaks. Livestock producers can visit www.farmbiosecurity.com.au for more information.
Any producer noticing unexpected or unusual signs of disease, abnormal behaviour or unexpected deaths in their stock should immediately call a veterinarian or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.
Animal Health Australia (AHA) is a not-for-profit public company established by the Australian Government, state and territory governments and major national livestock industry organisations. The company manages national animal health programs on behalf of its members.
Audio grabs are available from the News section of the Farm Biosecurity website www.farmbiosecurity.com.au
For further information, please contact Margaret Stuart on 0407 411 174.
Research commissioned by Animal Health Australia and conducted by Quantum Market Research from a national sample of 303 livestock producers.
"EI is really Australia's largest scale emergency animal disease response and producers have seen, if not felt, the impacts of that disease. What we've seen is that a third of the producers have made changes to their daily operations as a result."
"Our research clearly shows that even though the majority of producers said they understood the biosecurity risks, only 17% recognised that the movement of people was of a high risk. The spread of EI was also due to the movement of people and we must keep this in the front of our minds."
clip 3.mp3 (105 KB)
"There's a lot livestock producers can learn from the EI outbreak. Biosecurity risks cover all diseases and livestock producers need to be vigilant at all times."