Kojonup producer ready to step up in livestock disease emergencies
When emergencies happen, government can’t do it all.
The preparedness of industry is now recognised as a crucial aspect of the successful management of any response to an emergency animal disease outbreak.
This is why Western Australia’s livestock industry representatives regularly participate in a variety of national, state and local level emergency training.
Kojonup producer, Steve McGuire, as a nominee of Wool Producers Australia, recently participated in training to become an industry representative on the National Management Group (NMG).
“As a sheep producer in Kojonup, I was not aware of how closely government and industry worked together on emergency diseases and how complex the decisions could be,” Mr McGuire said.
“Australia as a nation takes emergency animal disease preparedness extremely seriously.
“The NMG training involved a cross-section of industry from racing, trotting, poultry, wool and beef and it was really interesting to hear from people who had been on the frontline in equine influenza, Hendra virus and avian influenza outbreaks.
“The training prepares you to be an industry representative on the NMG during a response to a disease outbreak. This is the national body that approves the emergency response plan and funding during a response.
“I had previously attended Exercise Apollo here in Western Australia in 2016, which tested how the state would respond to an outbreak of the devastating livestock disease foot-and-mouth disease and I’ve also completed Control Centre training.
“The training opens your eyes to the ‘need for speed’ during an outbreak of an emergency animal disease such as foot-and-mouth disease, which is so contagious and moves so quickly.
“Unless we in industry, along with government, are trained and prepared and pressure-test our emergency plans regularly, diseases like this would quickly get out of control.
“The United Kingdom outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001 clearly demonstrated that,” Mr McGuire said.
“For this reason, I would like to see a more definitive vaccination policy for foot-and-mouth disease to save time in an incident. While there is vaccine in the Australian vaccine bank ready to go if we have an outbreak, we need a clearer policy about how and where vaccine would be used. I understand that this is being worked on at a national level at the moment.
“I also think asking appropriately trained stock agents or farmers to vaccinate stock during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak rather than vets would be a great use of resources.
“We also need to continue to investigate the best methods of disposing of dead animals with infectious diseases, as DPIRD has been doing over the past couple of years in conjunction with work undertaken nationally.
“Biosecurity is a shared responsibility. We will never be completely ready, but it is vital to be as prepared as we can be, and that includes regular training and pressure-testing our systems with government.”
Mr McGuire said that he would encourage all members of WA’s livestock industry to take advantage of the emergency training offered through their organisations.
Animal Health Australia (AHA) conducts training for representatives on NMG and CCEAD (Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease) twice a year. CCEAD is the technical committee that coordinates the technical response to a disease. Industry representatives are nominated by their AHA member organisation to receive this training.
AHA also runs several workshops a year for the Liaison: Livestock Industry function in conjunction with industry peak bodies that are signatories to the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement.
Industry personnel interested in EAD response training can also prepare by working through the EAD Foundation Online course on the AHA website.
Steve McGuire is WAFarmers Livestock Council Vice President and a member of the Sheep and Goats Industry Funding Scheme committee.