Disease-Watch - Welcome

Welcome once again. Newsletter 3 of 12 is upon us.

Make sure that you grab a copy of the comprehensive awareness kit for aquatic animal disease emergencies that has recently been developed by Big Time® Media Pty Ltd. You can get it by filling out the following form. http://www.disease-watch.com/orderKit.htm  And yes the Kit is FREE!

The kit covers the basics for field operators, businesses, government workers, vets, students and academics.

With over 80 minutes of video supported by extensive documentation with links to relevant web sites and On Line resources, the kit is an important reference tool offering step-by-step processes for anyone in the aquaculture industry.

 If you have already have a copy of the kit, please take the time to visit the accompanying Web Site http://www.disease-watch.com for updates, links to other web sites and further information.

For those with questions or comments that may be helpful to others involved in the Australian Aquaculture Industry, there is an ON LINE FORUM http://www.disease-watch.com/forum.asp (or discussion bulletin board) on the web site. Here you can leave messages for others, make comments or suggestions on various topics or ask questions that other members may be able to answer for you. This is your SPACE and we encourage you to use it on a regular basis.

We’d love to get some feedback on the kit so visit the FORUM. We’d love to hear from you.

The advantage of the Disease Watch Awareness package is that the website allows new information and resources to be constantly added.  

As each new item is written and before it can be published, it needs to be reviewed at several levels.  First stop is the National Aquatic Animal Health - Technical Working Group.  This is a group of technical and scientific experts in fish health from each State and Territory and the Commonwealth.  Once endorsed by this group, the resources progress to Aquatic Animal Health Committee (AAHC) where the policy makers from the States and Territories and industry representatives come together to review the policy implications of each new document.  Once cleared by AAHC, the resources are reviewed progressively by Primary Industries Health Committee, Primary Industries Standing Committee and, in some cases, Primary Industries Ministerial Council.  Once cleared by all these committees, the resources are available for use.

At the moment, a wide range of manuals and resources are wending their way through the endorsement process.  Over the next six months, we hope to see the following resources endorsed and released on the disease watch website:

1. AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manual for Viral Encephalopathy and Retinopathy
2. AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manual for Crayfish Plague
3. AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manual for White Spot Disease of Crustaceans
4. AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manual for Whirling Disease
5. AQUAVETPLAN Disease Strategy Manual for Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia
6. AQUAVETPLAN Enterprise Manual Update (Semi-open Systems)
   

These resources will be a great addition to the AQUAVETPLAN series.  The Disease Strategy Manuals are especially important because they not only provide details of the specific disease and potential ways of responding to an outbreak of the disease, they also present the preferred response options that have been endorsed by both industry and government.  

Having an agreed response saves valuable time when the disease incident occurs and responding quickly is a vital component of an effective response against disease.

In the 2004-05 Budget, the Australian Government provided $21.6 million over the next four years for the Securing the Future initiative - to better protect agricultural, fisheries, forestry and food industries from biosecurity threats such as pests, diseases and contaminants. Some of this funding will be available for building on the outcomes of the previous budget initiative “Building a National Approach to Animal and Plant Health” initiative that ran from 2000/01-2003/04.  In addition, the funding will allow for the development of new projects in several areas of fish health.  The funds are provided as “seed funding” to encourage States/Territories and industries to contribute towards a range of projects.

In last month’s newsletter, we introduced the forthcoming strategic plan AQUAPLAN Australia’s National Strategic Plan for Aquatic Animal Health 2005-2010.  This new budget initiative will direct funding towards some of the seven key strategies of AQUAPLAN:

1. Enhanced integration and scope of aquatic animal health surveillance in Australia
2. Harmonisation of approaches to aquatic animal health in Australia
3. Establishment of an emergency animal disease response agreement for Australian aquaculture industries
4. Education and training in the aquatic animal health sector
5. Welfare standards for aquaculture
6. Appropriate use of therapeutics for aquatic animal health management
7. Aquatic animal health as part of ecologically sustainable development
   

Once AQUAPLAN 2005-2010 is endorsed by Primary Industries Standing Committee in their September 2004 meeting, specific projects within each key strategy will be able to commence and the additional funding will increase both the speed and the breadth of work accomplished.