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Quarantine. What is Quarantine. Is the isolation from the general population, of humans, animals or plant matter infected with, or carrying a communicable disease. Note: Quarantine is also common in animals and plants that come from places where particular diseases are suspected.
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What is Quarantine • Is the isolation from the general population, of humans, animals or plant matter infected with, or carrying a communicable disease. • Note: Quarantine is also common in animals and plants that come from places where particular diseases are suspected
What is the point of Quarantine? • For the purpose of controlling the spread of disease
History of Quarantine • Quarantine means QuarintiGiorni, which means 40 days. This was the time period that ships that came into ports were held before it was considered sufficient time for infectious stages of a disease to pass and for treatment to be completed. • Passengers were held on board and ships were anchored off shore. A yellow flag indicated the ship was in a period of quarantine. • Also occured in: • Lepers in biblical times • The black plague in the 14th century
Quarantine in Australia • Quarantine in Australia is controlled by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The AQIS • The aim of the AQIS is to protect; • Australias agricultural production • The environemt including the health of flora and fauna • The health of the human population • Paste in the table of items that pose quarantine risks
Quarantine Risks • All of the things in the table above can carry hidden pests and diseases. • These materials are intercepted by AQIS through airports, mail, cargo and shipping. • Quarantine stations are also set up across state and agricultural region borders
Plant Quarantine • Plants and soil can also carry many dangerous plant and animal pests and diseases. All soil and plant material are quarantined. • Infected material can be treated and/or destroyed. • Disease free material is usually kept at quarantine, grown and sold to importers • Plant seeds are examined to check that no weed seeds are present
Animal Quarantine • Also stops unwanted pests and diseases travelling via animal or animal matter. • Imported animals face a time in isolation to ensure no disease is present. • Eg, horses entering the country for the Melbourne Cup
Human Quarantine • Continuous checks are kept on human passengers. • Quarantine can be enforced on passengers who enter the country from areas where a particular contagious disease are prevalent • Quarantine questions such as • “Have you visited a farm?” • “Were there animals present?”
Why is Quarantine important in Australia? • Aust. has aunique yet fragile ecosystem • Can be destroyed by foreign species and pests • E.g. Rabbits after introduced have endangered native species
How Effective is Australia’s Quarantine Australia’s strict quarantine laws, enforced by the AQIS have meant that Australian plants and animals do not have some of the serious diseases found in other countries,
Animal Disease Kept Out of Australia • Foot and mouth disease: • Highly contagious muscle-wasting disease of cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, sheep and goat • Symptoms: fever,dribbling,lethargy, blisters on mouth, tongue, lips, hooves, and feet • Caused by an airborne virus –spread by live animals and by the carcass of animals, and also in soil and equipment.
Plant Disease Kept Out of Australia • Sorghum downy mildew: • This disease has been prevented from entering into Australia • Caused : fungus; if it was released into Australia, it would devastate wheat and other crops grown here • The fungus inhibits the plants ability to make chlorophyll, which results in the death of the plant
Disease stopped from Crossing Australia • Fruit flies • Quarantine measures have been implemented that forbid the movement of fruit across state borders • These measures are in place to control the spread of fruit flies, which cause severe damage to fruit crops such as bananas • There is fruit fly in Western Australia, Queensland Eastern Australia • The Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania do not have these pests, because of quarantine measures
Summary of Effectiveness of Australia’s Quarantine • Overall, quarantine practices have been greatly effective. • Due to the rigorous implementation of quarantine practices, most diseases and pests have not been brought to Australia.
