Disease-Watch - Welcome

Welcome once again to the July 2005 Edition of the Disease-Watch Newsletter.

PLEASE NOTE: This is an updated version of yesterdays newsletter, please pay particular attention to the response date for feedback located at the end of the newsletter.

Conferences and Workshops

1. National Fishkill Workshop
28th April 2005

A workshop was held on 28th April 2005 in Brisbane to develop a generic national protocol for investigating and reporting of fish kills in Australia. Participating in the workshop were representatives from State/Territory Department of Agriculture/Fisheries and Environment Protection Agencies, the Australian Wildlife Health Network, the Australian Animal Health Laboratory, the University of Tasmania and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry.

The specific workshop objectives were:

a) to provide a basis for improvement of investigation and reporting of major fish kills; and
b) to agree on a draft protocol covering minimum requirements for investigation of fish kills.

The output of the workshop was:

a) an agreed set of minimum investigation and reporting standards for fish kills between all jurisdictions and agencies; and,
b) a draft generic national protocol for investigation and reporting of fish kills in Australia.

The workshop highlighted significant differences in the level and depth of investigations and standards of reporting of fish kills between Australia’s states and territories. Similarly, effective communication pathways between combat and support agencies varied significantly between jurisdictions.

The development of a generic national protocol will assist states and territories in developing their own state specific protocols, ensuring that each jurisdiction has the capacity and capability to respond to fish kills in a manner consistent with all other jurisdictions.

This workshop was an initiative of the Aquatic Animal Health Committee and was funded through the Australian Government's "Securing the Future - Protecting our Industries from Biological, Chemical and Physical Risk" initiative.

2. National Aquatic Animal Health- Technical Working Group

3-4 May 2005

The National Aquatic Animal Health-Technical Working Group (NAAHTWG) met on the 3-4 May 2005 to discuss a range of national issues.

The two days focussed on a variety of national issues including:

• Revision of the Australian Animal Diseases and Pathogens Database
• Responsibility for maintaining the Aquatic Animals Diagnostics Database
• Changes to the National list of Reportable Diseases of Aquatic Animals
• State Reports members WA, TAS, QLD, NT, NSW, SA,VIC
• The funding of the ANZSDPs (Australia New Zealand Standard Disease Protocol)
• The status of the Haplosporidian ANZSDP
• New Research Findings on fish iridovirus – implications for Australia’s Health Status
• DNA Bar Coding System
• AQUAPLAN 2005-2010 progress report
• Ornamental fish importation
• A case definition and standards for reporting of GAV
• Lab System Workshop
• FRDC Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram R&D Plan Annual Review
• Education Workshop
• Draft revised format for AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manuals
• Development of a National Fishkill Investigation and Reporting Protocol

The meeting was very successful, with resolutions achieved on most agenda items and many actions arising as outcomes. Resolutions arising from the 3-4 May NAAH-TWG Meeting will be presented as recommendations to Aquatic Animal Health Committee at its next meeting on 21st June 2005.

3. International Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society - World Aquaculture 2005.

9-13 May 2005

The annual international meeting of the World Aquaculture Society “World Aquaculture 2005” was held from 9-13 May 2005 in Nusa Dua Bali-Indonesia.

The theme of this years’ meeting was “International Peace and Development though Aquaculture”

There were more than 50 sessions during the four days of the conference and, at any moment, there were 10 concurrent topics to choose from. These sessions covered a huge range of subjects, from marine finfish to freshwater prawns, from nutrition to health, from environmental concerns to product quality, and from producers to the work of non government organisations in developing countries. There were also several special sessions on aquaculture management, environmental management, emergency preparations and response to disease, socio-economics and impacts of aquaculture, microalgae-based recirculation systems, public policies for aquaculture sustainability, tuna farming, economics and marketing and tsunami disaster relief.

Several representatives from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry attended the conference and gave presentations on raising awareness of health management within the Australian aquaculture industry, biosecurity strategies for effective response to aquatic animal disease emergencies, AQUAVETPLAN: Australia’s aquatic animal disease veterinary emergency plan and the development of expertise in emergency disease management through the use of simulation exercises. These presentations were well received and gave conference participants an insight into the Australian Government’s high level of commitment to maintain the favourable health status of the Australian aquaculture industry through increased emergency preparedness and health management activities.

One of the highlights of the conference was the field trip to the Gondol Research Institute for Mariculture. The Institute was established in 1985 as a research station for coastal aquaculture and conducts research on the identification and evaluation of natural resources for mariculture as well as providing information and technical services to the Indonesian
aquaculture industry.

Gondol Broodstock facilities

Grouper hatchery tank

The field trip also included a visit to Disthi Kumala Bahari, one of the islands’ leading pearl growers.

Pearl seeding

Pearl harvesting

The World Aquaculture Society was founded in 1970 as the World Mariculture Society. Since then the WAS has grown to a society of 2,500 members in 91 countries. In order to meet the expanding international nature of the Society and to address specific needs in various areas of the world, the WAS has created Chapters in the United States, Japan, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

The Annual Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society is recognized as the premier aquaculture conference and exhibition bringing together a wide variety of aquaculturists from the commercial, academic and government sectors.

4. Australian Veterinary Association Conference - Gold coast

16-20 May 2005

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) convened its 2005 Annual National Conference in May at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach.

Thanks to the persistence and fortitude of the AVA aquatics organising committee, this year the AVA hosted, as a Special Interest Group (SIG), the Aquatic Animal Health Sessions for the first time.

Aquatic presentations have been presented at the AVA in previous years, but usually under the banner of a miscellaneous group. Last year for example, these topics got some air in the ‘Unusual and Exotic Pets Sessions’.

The theme of the Aquatic Sessions this year was “Wetter is Better” with a focus on promoting an interest in aquatics for practising veterinarians and pathologists as a possible means of diversifying in practise.

The Aquatic Sessions occupied a medium sized lecture theatre for all of Wednesday, with around 15 presentations.
The audience heard a range of presentations including;

• The challenge and reward of expanding practice to include aquatic animal medicine
• A typical fish consultancy for a vet, including how to schedule fees and deal with clients
• Challenges of anaesthesia in aquatic animal surgery
• Disease challenges in aquaculture
• The role of veterinarians in aquatic animal health surveillance and reporting
• The role of governments (State/Territory and Australian) and International Agencies in the surveillance and reporting of aquatic animal health and its significance in international trade.
• Latest gene sequencing research from UNSW on iridoviruses in fish.

Attendance at this years AVA Aquatic Sessions was much better than has been seen previously, with the lecture theatre at around 60-70% capacity for most of the day.

The five day ‘Aquaculture’ trade booth saw a great deal of interest from many veterinarians. It was heartening to meet with so many vets who, perhaps a bit disenchanted with the same old ‘cats and dogs’ routine, have in the past or are currently toying with the prospect of venturing into the area of aquatic medicine.

The conference was a huge success and congratulations to the Aquatic Sessions organising committee and the Australian Veterinary Association for such a successful Conference.

If you have not yet obtained a copy of the kit, follow this link and fill out the request form. http://www.disease-watch.com/orderKit.htm And yes the Kit is FREE!

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WHAT DO SUBSCRIBERS WANT FROM DISEASE-WATCH NEWSLETTER?

Staff at the Aquatic Animal Health Unit of the OCVO in Canberra have tried to produce a monthly newsletter for the www.disease-watch.com website, but unfortunately this hasn’t quite occurred on all occasions. In wanting to enhance the usefulness and integrity of this feature of the disease-watch awareness package, the newsletter will now only be produced and circulated quarterly.

A quarterly distribution will provide for more interesting and informative reading with each consecutive issue.

To help us improve the publication, we are asking subscribers to let us know what you would like from a newsletter of this type. For example, a discussion forum is available, but rarely has it been utilized.

Please tick the box/es below with the kind of content you would like to see in the newsletter.

outcomes of aquatic animal health conferences/meetings
aquatic animal health staff profiles
developments in aquatic animal health legislation
developments in aquatic animal health research
upcoming events and conferences
information on disease/fishkill events
other. (please specify)……………………………………………………………………

Could you please respond to this questionnaire by email? Simply cut and paste this questionnaire to an email with your responses and return to aah@daff.gov.au, or fax your preferences to 02 6273 5237.

Responses please by 31st July 2005.