For veterinarians and plant scientists
This page provides veterinarians and plant scientists with links to information that will assist in diagnosing and reporting nationally significant pests and diseases. There are also links to relevant training courses.
Veterinarians
Hendra virus
Information specific to veterinarians about the Hendra virus
Ehrlichiosis in dogs
Ehrlichiosis is a disease that effects dogs and is caused by a tick-borne bacteria called Ehrlichia canis. The brown dog tick which is present across northern Australia is the main carrier of this disease, and transmission only occurs through infected ticks. Infected dogs do not directly transmit the disease to other dogs.
Ehrlichiosis is a nationally notifiable disease. This means, dogs suspected of being infected with ehrlichiosis must be reported to the national Emergency Animal Disease Watch hotline on 1800 675 888. This number will put you in contact with your state or territory’s biosecurity authority.
Each state and territory biosecurity authority has provided information about this incident to its relevant veterinary association.
The Ehrlichiosis in dogs page on agrculture.gov.au has more information about the national status of the disease and advice for dog owners.
Ehrlichia canis guidelines for veterinarians
The following links are to guidelines issued by the state/territory biosecurity authorities:
Ehrlichia canis information for vets – Biosecurity Queensland
Infection with Ehrlichia canis – Guidelines for veterinarians (Northern Territory) PDF
Factsheet Ehrlichia canis for vets – Western Australia DPIRD - PDF [359 KB]
Ehrlichiosis in dogs – information for vets – NSW DPI
African Swine Fever
African Swine Fever Guide for Veterinarians – Queensland Government
African Swine Fever – Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
Exotic disease outbreak protocol
Information is available for vets about what to do if you discover a new or exotic disease.
Engagement of private veterinarians in an emergency disease response.
Emergency animal disease training
Emergency animal disease training – Animal Health Australia
Animal Health Australia helps provide education and training to its members to assist them with their responsibilities under the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA). AHA helps to ensure that trained personnel are available to assist in the event of an emergency animal disease (EAD) response.
Access the training on the AHA website
EuFMD Virtual Learning
Simulation exercises for animal disease emergencies – open access online training course
EuFMD (European Union for the Control of foot-and-mouth disease) has developed a new online training course that is designed to assist veterinary authorities to plan, conduct and evaluate exercises in a consistent manner. Tools are provided to support decision-making on the type of exercise to select, and to organise the different phases of the exercise.
This training is intended to be of interest to veterinarians and others who would like to build their knowledge of emergency preparedness for animal disease outbreaks. It will be especially useful for those working with government veterinary services and responsible for the design, implementation or evaluation of simulation exercises. The course may be studied in its entirety, or alternatively is intended to be useful as a go-to reference resource for those working on simulation exercises.
Access the course on the EuFMD website
Plant scientists
More information is available on what to do if you've discovered a new organism or plant pathogen.
National emergency plant pest training program
Plant Health Australia provides training through the National Emergency Plant Pest Training Program to industry and government representatives, growers and other biosecurity stakeholders.
The training program includes face-to-face, online courses and simulation exercises
Find out more on the Plant Health Australia website.