ON FARM NATIONAL RESEARCH IN y onbiosecurity REVIEW PROJECT NAME The Foot‑and‑Mouth Disease Ready Project • intergenerational differences relying on our past freedom status as RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS between approaches to biosecurity assurance we are FMD‑free.” CSIRO, Charles Sturt University and reporting Other activities include: through the Graham Centre for • low concern about emergency • creating awareness campaigns to Agricultural Innovation, Bureau of animal diseases and less priority reinforce the need to report early Meteorology and the Australian given to biosecurity and surveillance Department of Agriculture, supported practices among some farmers and • identifying and engaging ‘high‑risk’ by Animal Health Australia farming types, which could result in groups in surveillance and vulnerability to disease incursion. biosecurity training FUNDING ORGANISATIONS • exploring digital technologies This project is supported by “The sub‑project takes a ground‑up that might assist with animal MLA through funding from the approach, to create partnerships that health surveillance Australian Government Department Yiheyis said. of Agriculture as part of its Rural • developing emergency animal R&D for Profit program, and by “For example, the survey feedback diseases‑ready resources and tools producer levies from Australian identifies areas where stronger for producers FMD‑susceptible livestock relationships and trust are needed • working together to enhance industries (cattle, sheep, goats and to encourage producers to report relationships among producers and pigs) and Charles Sturt University, anything unusual on‑farm. other stakeholders, which are essential leveraging significant in‑kind “The project also encourages to report anything unusual early and to support from the research partners. collaboration between industries mount a rapid and effective response GOAL dealing with FMD‑susceptible species, in case of an outbreak. To strengthen preparedness for an as an outbreak in one livestock industry Information and lessons from these emergency animal disease outbreak would impact all.” groups are shared with industry and facilitate an earlier return to trade Five partnership pilot groups involving and government stakeholders, and for Australia following control of such producer and other animal health recommendations will be made on how a disease, using FMD as a model. stakeholders have been established to to expand this producer‑led approach BUDGET enhance trust and partnership and to to surveillance. ■ $10.5 million develop and trial innovative solutions: • dairy cattle, Victoria Yiheyis Maru DURATION • beef cattle, Queensland E: Yiheyis.Maru@csiro.au July 2016 – June 2020 • sheep, WA Foot-and-Mouth Disease Ready KEY FINDINGS TO DATE • pork, Tasmania Project: research.csiro.au/fmd • Vaccine strains in Australia’s • goats, SA. Subscribe to the FMD stakeholder FMD vaccine bank will provide updates: research.csiro.au/fmd/ sufficient protection against strains Each group is working on local subscribe-to-the-fmd-ready- circulating internationally. solutions to improve surveillance and stakeholder-update/ • Better understanding of the biosecurity, as well as identifying challenges and opportunities challenges and opportunities at state for improving animal health level and nationally. surveillance in Australia, as well For example, the beef pilot group as creation of local partnerships held a workshop in March to improve involving all relevant stakeholders producers’ skills in detecting signs and to achieve improved surveillance. symptoms of significant endemic and • Contribution by the jurisdictions emergency animal diseases. in developing realistic outbreak “The workshop aimed to improve the scenarios and provision of capacity of beef producers to provide information on essential response timely and meaningful information to costs to update the Australian veterinarians to assist with their disease Animal Disease Spread Model. investigations,” Yiheyis said. • Determination of circumstances CSIRO senior scientist and veterinarian (temperature and humidity‑ “It shows our trade partners we’re Dr Yiheyis Maru leads the producer‑led dependent) in which FMD is proactively taking steps to improve surveillance sub‑project as part of the FMD spread by wind. surveillance and reporting, not just Ready Project. Image: CSIRO 23