Professor Richard Whittington
Dr Jenny-Ann Toribio
Dr Nick Malikides
Ms Hannah Forsyth
Mrs Anna Waldron
Ms Marion Saddington

In 1999 the gross value of Australian livestock production was $13.4bn of which $11.5bn came from exports. The Australian economy and the rural sector depend on this trade, which is based on efficient production, marketing, quality assurance and access to major markets in the developed world. Most of these markets have a favourable status for the major epidemic diseases of livestock. Compared to many competitors, Australia enjoys privileged access due to the historical absence of important livestock diseases.

This project was undertaken because a critical shortage of the skills required by the livestock industries is looming. The loss of animal health laboratories, trained livestock health specialists, together with the loss of government employed district veterinary officers and epidemiologists, has dramatically weakened the national defences against disease incursions, threats to product integrity and market access.

The aim of this project was to establish a new teaching and research unit in the Faculty of Veterinary Science. Research and training programs in epidemiology, disease surveillance, pathobiology and food safety were developed and delivered to postgraduate and undergraduate students. A new post graduate degree program in Veterinary Public Health Management commenced. Ties were established with overseas universities to enable future development of joint teaching and research programs. Staff from the unit are active in the research community, in industry groups and the media, ensuring wide communication of research results. Staff work together with stakeholders in the livestock sector to promote the benefits of the research programs. This MLA project has led to immediate benefits for industry, and many of these will endure into the long term: undergraduate veterinary students are better equipped to enter rural veterinary practice; graduates working in animal health now have a flexible post graduate coursework program to learn skills in epidemiology and public health for immediate application; a steady stream of young post graduates is becoming available to fill retirement positions; young post doctoral fellows and PhD research students have greater opportunity to work on real world problems and provide service longer term to the livestock sector; significant critical mass now exists to conduct research on priority livestock health issues.

Livestock account for approximately 20% of overall GDP and 35% of agricultural GDP in both Cambodia and Laos.  The population of cattle and buffaloes is approximately 2.5 million in Cambodia and 2 million in Laos, with an annual increase of about 5% for cattle and 0.75% for buffalo in Laos between 1980 and 2000 as the demand for meat is growing rapidly in south-east Asia. With the majority of large ruminant livestock in Cambodia and Laos held by small village producers and up to 25% of cattle currently exported, an opportunity to increase production and address rural poverty exists. However there are a number of constraints to the development of the large ruminant industry, including socioeconomic factors, inadequate husbandry skills, undeveloped markets and diseases, including toxocariasis, Haemorrhagic septicaemia and Foot and Mouth Disease. In both countries, large extension projects are now commencing that aim for capacity building using a systems approach, to enhance several aspects of village level livestock productivity, including large ruminant production.

Research that examines key elements of the effectiveness of this extension approach is necessary, and the present project is a scoping study, leading to a project that will address rural poverty through improving producer knowledge of large ruminant disease control and husbandry, building on capacity developed in an earlier ACIAR project.

Companion Animal Welfare Schemes are community based and means-tested cat and dog desexing programs that are run by the RSPCA and cofunded by local government and philanthropic organisations. They target rural areas of social disadvantage and aim to improve the health and welfare of companion animals through desexing and education programs.

This project will assess the effectiveness of these programs using a number of measures. These will include data of the number of animals treated, household census of animals, the reduction in the numbers of animals presented at local animal pounds and the changes in owner attitudes toward the health and welfare of their pets.

Emerging infectious diseases have the potential to cause significant impacts on animal health, public health, the economy and/or the environment. A good understanding of the epidemiology and likely spread of these diseases, should they be introduced to Australia, is a necessary component of effective preparedness and response planning. At present there is a shortage of people in Australia with skills to undertake comprehensive epidemiological modelling of animal and human diseases.

This project offers the opportunity to develop advanced skills in disease modelling by development of a stochastic spatial simulation model for a disease of concern to the Australian intensive livestock industries. Diseases that pose a serious threat include Newcastle disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza for the poultry industry and classical swine fever for the pig industry. Disease modelling, by evaluating the behaviour of an exotic disease under Australian conditions and the effect of alternate control strategies, is recognised as an important tool to support Australia's preparedness for a disease incursion. This project, working with government and industry, will develop a new model of the spread of one disease highly pathogenic avian influenza within the Australian intensive livestock population to address issues associated with assessing the extent, impact and control of disease outbreaks. This model will be used to enhance national disease planning and will provide technical underpinning for Australia's outbreak management policies.

Dr Jenny-Ann Toribio
Associate Professor Peter Thomson

Drs Angus Cameron & Chris Baldock (Deceased)
AusVet Animal Health Services

Electronic data capture can be achieved either using a web-based data submission system (providing real-time access to a centralised database and allowing instant analysis), or by the use of hand held computing devices. The current project therefore proposes that both systems be developed in a staged fashion. Initially, a web-based system was developed and will be followed by a hand-held device for data entry. A central component of each system is the Bovine Syndromic Surveillance System (BOSSS) a tool to assist farmers identify disease problems. This artificial intelligence system controls flow of information about individual diseases, disease investigation and control based upon examination of reported signs, and will promote the capture of negative sign data (ie signs that are definitely not present). It provides producers with information about the most likely diseases that can explain reported signs and undertakes a differential examination of these listed signs by questioning the user about the presence (or absence) of key differential signs. The data entered goes into a syndromic database that includes negative signs and has enhanced ability to differentiate disease and investigate potential exotic disease events.

This project will result in:

• An internet-based animal health information system enabling data entry, data analysis and reporting for a syndrome surveillance system for use by producers in remote areas.
• User-friendly computer-assisted diagnostic aids to help producers in remote areas.
• Software to be used on hand held devices which permits data entry and access to computer-assisted diagnostic aids in the field.
• Software and simple methods to transfer data from hand held devices to a centralised database for more sophisticated analysis of aggregated data as part of Australia's overall disease surveillance system for cattle.

Robert Flower*
Ms Sandra Kamieh
North Shore Hospital

*Principal investigator

Borna disease virus (BDV) is a neurotropic RNA virus that can cause clinical disease in humans, horses, cats and sheep. Reports of its presence in Australia have been made, but have been unsubstantiated. These reports required verification with regard the human and animal health in this country as well as having implications for export of animals from Australia.

The aim of this study is to investigate in various species whether BDV could be detected in Australia, by use of various serological and molecular techniques. Specific objectives include:

• Investigate and determine the prevalence of BDV in horses and cats using serological and molecular techniques.
• Investigate whether BDV or a BDV-like agent can be detected in the human population and if so, to determine the prevalence of BDV infection in humans, primarily blood donors, pregnant women, long-term multiply transfused haematology and depressed patients.
• Investigate whether BDV is associated with altered cytokine production in depressed patients, as opposed to a control population.
• Use definitive confirmatory serological tests for the detection of BDV.
• Obtain sequence data of isolates of BDV in Australia and compare to existing sequences of BDV for evidence of variation.

Ms Meg Vost
Dr Nicholas Malikides

The clear and strong parallels between human and animal health have been recognised for millennia. Recent collaborative endeavours in developing and industrialised countries between the World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and the Office International des Epizooties have redefined the role of veterinary public health and have involved veterinarians and other health professionals and scientists in a broad range of government and non-government sectors. However, in Australia, few lasting and significant collaborations have been formed between veterinary and medical science, and education, training and research activities in animal and human health have remained only tenuously linked.

In 2004, the veterinary, medical, and public health schools of the University of Sydney and public health institutions within Sydney and New South Wales formed a working group, the Interdisciplinary Network in Public Health (INPH). The INPH now has an expanding group of representatives from the University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital and the Public Health units in Lismore, Broken Hill, and Moree. Meeting every four months by teleconference, the INPH aims to create key partnerships between multiple health disciplines, including epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, clinical veterinary and human medicine and public health, pathology, wildlife and agricultural science, and to enhance, and capitalise on members' areas of expertise in teaching, research and community service.

Joint projects in infectious diseases of public health importance, seminars given by experts in emerging infectious diseases and development of a unique animal and human based zoonoses fact sheet website were the major tasks of the INPH for 2004-2005. Through conferences related to communicable diseases, and through major government, industry, university and international organisations such as the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre for Emerging Infectious Disease and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, we aim to enhance these and other similar initiatives while promoting the need for ongoing interdisciplinary animal and human health collaboration.

• a summary of the key animal welfare issues covered and the perspective they are presented from;
• level of demand for animal welfare education resources;
• explore the activities of other organisations ie NFF, RSPCA, AVA and CIWF in this field;
• develop a list of key contacts within the field of animal welfare education at the primary, secondary and tertiary level
• recommendations regarding a need for education materials for either primary, secondary or tertiary students.