Take no chances on signs of exotic animal diseases, producers told

Government biosecurity experts say should the likes of lumpy skin disease or African swine fever be detected, a response can be mounted quickly.

Whether or not it is successful will depend on early detection, general manager of emergency preparedness for Animal Health Australia Dr Samantha Allan told this month's Outlook 2023 conference in Canberra.

"We need every set of eyes looking out for what's not normal," she said.

"The danger is if something is ignored for a couple of weeks it could mean the difference between eradication or a massive response that destroys the economy."

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Dr Allan said producers should take confidence from the good record Australia has on biosecurity.

She made the point that in 2008 a large outbreak of equine influenza across the eastern part of the country was able to be contained in under a year, when overseas experts said it could not be eradicated.

However, we could not afford to be complacent - the risk landscape had changed dramatically, she said.

"Until recently geographical isolation had been a great comfort to Australia," Dr Allan said.

"Our assessment that most biosecurity risks will arrive through our ports has seen us concentrate on implementing strong measures at points of entry.

"Strict restrictions on what can be legally imported and extensive surveillance off freight, mail and passengers has been our focus."

But in the past five years, the global spread of ASF and LSD had happened at an alarming rate and were now close enough that they could enter Australia via pathways that are difficult, even impossible, for authorities to control.

ASF, a serious viral disease in pigs, was the first to move out of Africa. The European Union reported it in 2014 and it has since affected 16 EU countries.

In 2018 it was detected in China and by September 2019 it was recorded in Timor Leste, then Papua New Guinea.

LSD spread from Africa through the Middle East between 2012 and 2017 and was then reported for the first time in Bangladesh, China and India in 2019. Last year, it was confirmed in Indonesia.

"Both diseases would have a catastrophic impact on our livestock industries should they reach us," Dr Allan said.

"Due to changes in world politics, trading patterns in markets, the movement of people and climate change, we now have serious threats immediately to our north that are unlikely to go away in the short term.

"And they both have the ability to establish in our extensive feral animal population.

"We've had an extreme elevation of risk in a short period of time."

Northern Australia's large populations of feral buffalo, cattle and pigs would provide a 'perfect reservoir' for these diseases to establish if not detected early, Dr Allan said.

While Australia was currently investing millions in preparedness, there was a growing recognition we need to get smarter, rather than just upscale what we are already doing, if we are to remain disease-free, she said.

"One way is to embrace technology, and to look to other sectors to see how their innovations might be applied," she said.

"For example, during COVID advances in modeling and decision making support tools were made that we could draw on.

"We can also look to novel diagnostics to help us get more information faster without the need for people on the ground, or for testing in the field."