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
Established diseases
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.
Ehrlichia canis guidelines for veterinarians
Veterinary guidelines for managing Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis in Australia
Our web page at agriculture.gov.au/ehrlichiosis has more information about ehrlichiosis for dog owners, veterinarians, and rescue and rehoming organisations.
Exotic and emerging diseases
The diseases below do not occur in Australia.
African Swine Fever
African swine fever (ASF) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs. It has established itself in Asia and parts of Europe and continues to spread. ASF has no vaccine and kills about 80 per cent of the pigs it infects.
Find out more at agriculture.gov.au/asf
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a serious threat to Australia’s animal health and trade. Livestock workers, producers, and large animal vets need to know the signs of FMD and report suspected infection.
FMD is a highly contagious animal disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, goats, camelids, deer and pigs. It does not affect horses and zebras.
See more at agriculture.gov.au/famd
Lumpy skin disease
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle and buffalo that causes relatively low mortality. It does not affect humans. The disease can result in animal welfare issues and significant production losses.The disease is spread by biting flies, mosquitoes and ticks. It can also travel long distances through the movement of infected animals or through contaminated items including animal handling equipment, livestock vehicles, as well as people’s clothing and footwear. In some cases, it spreads directly from animal to animal.
The disease has shown its ability to establish and spread in a wide range of environmental and productions systems around the world.
See more at agriculture.gov.au/lumpyskin
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.