
WoolProducers Australia general manager Adam Dawes.
AUSTRALIA is already well-prepared for the possibility of avian influenza spreading to livestock species such as sheep, according to the government and peak grower body WoolProducers Australia.
After the avian influenza virus was found in dairy cattle in California last year, The International Wool Textile organisation recently recommended its member countries prepare sheep avian influenza control strategies.
In a recent circular from IWTO secretary general Dalena White outlined an IWTO Wool Trade Biosecurity Working Group recommendation that industry bodies in Australia, South Africa, Canada, America and Britain “should proactively engage with their respective veterinary authorities to prepare a Sheep Avian Influenza control strategy that is based on the epidemiology of the virus combined with a thorough risk analysis.
“The best strategy would be based on surveillance and vaccination,” the IWTO said.
The IWTO circular said In December 2024, California declared a state of emergency, due to H5N1 infections having spread to dairy cattle. The IWTO detailed advice to sheep farmers that bird flu is not a sheep disease, “but it has the potential to become one.”
“It has the potential to spread to individual sheep grazing outside, perhaps at a watering point, from where it can infect a whole flock (sheep tend to stand close together especially during hot summer days but also at night).”
A Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry spokesperson said Australia is free from H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) and it is highly unlikely that bird flu will be introduced into Australian sheep.
“However, if it were to occur, Australia’s existing emergency management arrangements to detect and respond to bird flu would be employed to control the disease.”
The spokesperson said to provide additional certainty for governments and industries, the Australian Government HPAI Taskforce has commissioned an independent risk assessment for bird flu in Australian dairy cattle.
“The report will also include rapid risk appraisals for beef cattle and sheep, and guidance for governments and industries to prepare and respond to bird flu in livestock, should this occur.”
The spokesperson said Australia has strong biosecurity and response arrangements in place for bird flu, including stringent controls on the importation of animals and animal products from other countries and surveillance programs that support rapid detection through reporting and investigation of sick and dead birds and other animals, and monitoring of circulating bird flu viruses.
“This enables us to respond rapidly and effectively to detections.”
The spokesperson said the AUSVETPLAN Response Strategy for Avian Influenza sets out the nationally agreed approach to bird flu outbreaks in Australia and national biosecurity manuals help animal owners establish and strengthen biosecurity measures.
WPA has confidence in current biosecurity systems
WPA is a signatory to the nation’s Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA) and general manager Adam Dawes said the AUSVETPLAN supports EADRA’s execution. He said an avian influenza AUSVETPLAN would be activated if there was an outbreak. He said that the avian influenza AUSVETPLAN would be used as a starting point in developing an EAD response plan if there was an outbreak; however, it would be highly unlikely that any strain of avian influenza would appear in sheep flocks before local bird populations.
“Australia has robust surveillance measures in place; however, there is currently no HPAI vaccination registered for sheep.
“Additionally deploying vaccines in advance of an outbreak can also compromise market access and surveillance activities,” he said.
“So Australia’s policy for HPAI incursion is primarily based on ‘stamping out’ or depopulating infected flocks or herds as the case may be, and vaccination may be used to assist with containment.
“Going straight in with vaccines can also actually compromise market access.”
Mr Dawes said the virus has not been detected in sheep, and the detections in cattle were due to exposure to infected birds and not animal to animal.
“But there is some concern among the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World health Organisation that it is starting to pop up in other species, including in humans, but there hasn’t yet been that jump from non-avian species to a species of the same type ie cattle to cattle.”
Mr Dawes said formulating a specific avian influence sheep plan before the HPAI Taskforce finalises its independent risk assessment recommendations and risk appraisals for beef cattle and sheep might risk duplication.
“Resources need to be allocated on a risk basis and there are finite resources available and it’s fair to say that we have robust systems in place to support detection and response that can be very quickly implemented …. and that would include if it jumped into cattle or sheep.”
He said the pre-agreed responsibilities between industry and government in the event of an exotic disease incursion mean Australia can respond very rapidly.
“At this point in time we have full confidence in our systems and processes that exist under EADRA; however, we will be interested to see what the outcome of the (taskforce) risk assessment is and we’ll look to adapt and improve systems.”
Australia is only continent free of H5 bird flu
The DAFF spokesperson said Australia remains the only continent free from H5N1 HPAI, clade 2.3.4.4b (H5 bird flu).
“We note this strain has spread rapidly across continents and has infected a wide range of host species overseas, including both marine and land mammals, leading to mass mortality events in some cases.
“For this reason, preparedness for this disease has been a national focus for many years.”
The Australian Government has established a dedicated HPAI Taskforce to lead and coordinate national activity to enhance Australia’s preparedness and response capability for a potential incursion of bird flu. The government is investing more than $100 million to strengthen surveillance, preparedness and response capability in alignment with a ‘One Health’ approach – fostering cross-portfolio efforts to mitigate the impact of H5 bird flu on Australian agriculture, environment and human health.
The Australian Government, state and territory governments, Animal Health Australia, Wildlife Health Australia, and relevant industry groups are working together to assess risks to animal, human and ecosystem health.
The Federal Government also delivered three exercises across August and September 2024 as part of Exercise Volare, to test Australia’s readiness for a potential incursion of H5 bird flu in wildlife. The exercise identified opportunities to strengthen Australia’s national preparedness and response capabilities. For more information on Exercise Volare, visit agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/emergency/exercises/volare.
General information on H5 bird flu can be found at birdflu.gov.au.
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