The Members Forum highlights the latest member news and provides a forum to share information and key learnings. We welcome member news to feature.

EI Communication Initiative
The equine influenza outbreak in Australia is currently contained and is on track for early eradication.

During January 2008, a communications campaign was undertaken to highlight the need for heightened biosecurity measures during the holiday season to support the equine influenza containment and eradication activities being undertaken in New South Wales and Queensland.

Advertising appeared in over 400 state, rural and regional newspapers and this was supported with a four week radio campaign. To really drive home the message at farm level, Australia Post delivered 2.5 million direct mail postcards to households in targeted areas.

Anthrax outbreak outside the ‘anthrax belt’
Over the Christmas/New Year period, New South Wales had an unexpected incident of anthrax in the Upper Hunter region, with 11 properties placed under quarantine and around 50 animals infected. Traditionally in NSW, anthrax occurs in the ‘anthrax belt' in the state's west, with a small number of incidents annually. The last time there was a recorded outbreak of anthrax in the Upper Hunter region was in the 1870s and thus this incident was quite unexpected. The outbreak has now been contained with movement controls and a vaccination program.

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease which affects many animals including cattle, sheep, horses and pigs and can also affect humans.

Owners of Bingeberry Hereford Stud, Keith and Gillian Miles, told the Scone Advocate that they estimated that the stud had lost $50,000.

The NSW DPI has said that growers may have to vaccinate against anthrax for several years to come.

The outbreak has highlighted the importance of regular monitoring of livestock as the early detection and quarantine of diseases is vital to their control.

Signs of Anthrax:
Anthrax usually occurs very suddenly in cattle and sheep, and within 24 hours affected animals are often found dead. In pigs the disease is usually less acute and the mortality rate lower. Anthrax is usually fatal to infected animals.

As anthrax is a significant zoonosis, all people handling dead animals or other infective material, including live vaccines, should wear protective glasses, gloves and clothing and protect skin breaks from infection. People exposed to infection either through wounds or self inoculation while vaccinating animals should seek medical advice.

This incident is a timely reminder to all livestock producers of the effectiveness and importance of regular monitoring of stock to notice ANY changes in behaviour or health status and thus ensuring detection and quarantine for all and any disease.

‘ENAG’ – from the Australian Egg Corporation, what it is and the role it has to play The ENAG Food Safety Taskforce (FSTF) eNAG Food Safety Taskforce is an independent panel of medical, veterinary and food safety professionals which guides communications and research from the Australian Egg Corporation on food safety, with a particular emphasis to date on Avian Influenza (AI). “The Task Force was established in 2006 to really provide an advisory role for the Corporation in combating the many issues around food safety related to eggs, AI being a key one,” explains James Kellaway, Managing Director of AECL. “Australian poultry flocks are currently free from bird flu disease (H5N1) plus Australia also has one of the best systems in the world for keeping our poultry flocks disease free. Despite these key facts, we are prepared with a panel of experts across key food safety related areas to ensure our message is clear if and when we need to combat an emergency disease such as AI or any other break in biosecurity.”

Checking feed for chemical residues essential

Source: www.safemeat.com.au

The Chairman of SAFEMEAT, Jack Ware, urged livestock producers to be aware of chemical residues when feeding supplementary feeds to livestock.

Mr Ware said that there is a risk that some supplementary feeds will have been treated with agricultural chemicals and this could potentially lead to livestock residue concerns.

“The drought has brought added pressures to find feed for livestock, and with that comes the added risk of using feed types that may contain chemical residues,” Mr Ware said.

It is important that producers know whether there are any chemical residues in stock feeds at levels that could lead to contamination.

“This is a very serious issue which could potentially lead to significant financial losses to producers and processors through the loss of export markets.”

Mr Ware said that when purchasing fodder that was specifically grown for livestock consumption producers should request a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD) from the seller. If producers are buying fodder that was not originally grown for livestock consumption, such as vegetable waste, producers should request a By-product Vendor Declaration (BVD). Both documents provide details on the chemical residue status of the feed.

“Most purchasers of slaughter cattle require a completed Livestock Production Assurance National Vendor Declaration. There are questions on the LPA NVD that ask producers whether the cattle have been fed by-product feeds in the past 60 days, or if cattle have been fed stockfeeds in the last 60 days that are still within a withholding period – therefore knowing the history of this feed is important,” Mr Ware said.

“It is extremely important for producers to be aware of residue risks. We understand that sourcing feed during the drought can be difficult, but the detection of chemical residues in exported meat would have serious implications for the whole livestock industry.”

Information on the risks of supplementary feeds can be found at the SAFEMEAT website – www.safemeat.com.au. The CVD and BVD are available from the Meat & Livestock Australia website at www.mla.com.au/lqs under ‘Livestock Fodder Declarations’. Producers should also check the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website at www.apvma.gov.au for the most recent updates to label directions, including export interval information.

Further information on residue risks in livestock feed is available from agronomists, state and territory agricultural departments and from SAFEMEAT (ph. 02 6272 5507).