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Foot-and-mouth disease
If you sometimes feel like you are drowning in paperwork, be reassured that keeping records is a genuinely useful biosecurity practice. If you ever find yourself caught up in a pest or disease incursion, the records you keep will be invaluable both to you and other producers in your industry.
Serpentine leafminer (Liriomyza huidobrensis) is a new pest to arrive in Australia, first reported in NSW in Greater Sydney in October 2020, and then also in the Fassifern Valley Queensland. Research shows this pest is that it is resistant to the chemical treatments used to control other leafminers. Therefore, an integrated pest management (IPM) regime is important to control the pest.
Several years on from the arrival of African swine fever (ASF) in Asia, the deadly pig disease remains right on Australia’s doorstep. With the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations issuing a heightened risk alert for the region, Animal Health Australia (AHA) is urging land managers and especially pig owners in Australia to be incredibly disciplined in how they manage their property biosecurity.
When it comes to on-farm biosecurity it is often said that if it moves, it can carry diseases, pests and weeds. The movement of people, vehicles and equipment creates a high risk of a biosecurity incursion, second only to the introduction of new plants, livestock and farm supplies (such as feed). With governments encouraging people to travel within Australia (despite constantly changing COVID-19 restrictions), Animal Health Australia (AHA) is encouraging all people to consider the impact their actions have on rural environments.
As the holidays are now upon us and following the lifting of many restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, many Australians will be looking to travel to visit family and friends, or simply get out of town. Animal Health Australia is reminding anyone travelling or expecting guests to be aware of the biosecurity implications that come with travel to our farms, national parks and other regional areas at this time of year. Don’t forget that any movement of people, vehicles and equipment can create new pathways for a biosecurity incursion.
Inspectors at border checkpoints on main roads between states and at airports are still looking for fruit and veggies that can’t be moved between states.
Producers in Tasmania will once again have access to an animal health monitoring and biosecurity network, funded by Animal Health Australia (AHA) and the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. The network, coordinated by veterinarian Dr Bruce Jackson, aims to bring together service providers – such as private veterinarians, stock agents, rural merchandisers and shearing contractors – to conduct livestock health monitoring during their time spent on-farm, especially those with sheep.
