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Foot-and-mouth disease
The leaders in your peak industry body are your main contact and source of information during biosecurity incidents
Australia is free of many serious diseases of livestock, due to our geographic isolation and our commitment to biosecurity and animal health. As a result of this, Australia’s red meat sector enjoys a high degree of access to international markets, along with a reputation of quality and the confidence of our consumers.
With the health of our livestock in mind, our governments and industries have agreed it’s best not to feed our livestock restricted animal material (RAM). RAM is any material from a vertebrate animal, other than tallow, gelatin, Australian milk products or oils.
The final numbers are in, and 2019 has proven to be another record-setting calendar year for the National Sheep Health Monitoring Project (NSHMP), with around one-third of all sheep slaughtered in Australia being inspected by a participating abattoir. Run by Animal Health Australia (AHA) with the support of sheep industry organisations Sheep Producers Australia and WoolProducers Australia, the NSHMP is designed to capture information on health conditions which either affect the productivity of the sheep, or cause carcases to be trimmed during processing, both of which impact profitability for the producer.
The first three episodes in a podcast series on the impact and management of fall armyworm have been released
An outbreak of an emergency animal disease (EAD) is a serious, though thankfully uncommon, occurrence, thanks to Australia’s geographic isolation and strong biosecurity measures at the border. However, there is no such thing as zero risk, particularly when it comes to diseases which can be harboured and transmitted by wildlife. Recent detections of avian influenza (AI) in Victoria has prompted Animal Health Australia (AHA) to issue a reminder to bird owners to take biosecurity seriously, even if they only have backyard hens.
The concept of social distancing will likely go down in history as one of the main things by which we remember 2020. Over the course of the year, keeping an appropriate distance between yourself and others has been touted as a key step in limiting the transmission of diseases between individuals. There are some significant parallels between human, animal and plant disease outbreaks, in terms of how they are managed. This is because the same basic principles are at play, regardless of what species the disease affects.
Rigorous and regular surveillance will protect your growing crops from new weeds, pests and diseases.
