Emergency aquatic animal disease management – the role of the Commonwealth

1. Emergency aquatic animal disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey Aquatic Animal Health Animal Division 31 July 2012

2. Overview • What is an “emergency”? • What happens in an aquatic animal disease emergency? • Possible improvements 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 2

3. What is an aquatic animal disease emergency? • Incidents that could have a significant impact - economic (production or trade), environmental or human health • Desirable to eradicate OR contain with a view to eradication • If eradication not feasible move from “emergency response” to ongoing management and mitigation 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 3 3

4. Division of responsibilities COMMONWEALTH • National coordination of disease response • Quarantine • International engagement (e.g. trade and disease reporting) • CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory STATES and TERRITORIES • Disease control within borders • Physical capabilities for disease response AQUACULTURE/FISHERIES SECTORS • Enterprise-level health management and biosecurity 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 4 4

5. What happens in an aquatic animal disease emergency? 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 5 5

6. Phases of an emergency response • Disease freedom • Alert • Incident definition • Emergency response • Recovery 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 6 6

7. Freedom – Alert – Definition – Response – Recovery 1. Freedom • Sustainable production • Access to markets • Ongoing risk mitigation activities Arrangements include: • National quarantine (pre-border and border) • State level biosecurity (e.g. translocation controls) • Farm-level biosecurity • Surveillance programs • Disease reporting (nationally and internationally) • Market access through substantiating disease status 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 7 7

8. Freedom – Alert – Definition – Response – Recovery 2. Alert • Suspicion of an EAD • Notification to responsible authority Arrangements include: • Disease awareness programs and resources for industry, general public and AAH professionals • Legal requirement to notify listed diseases or “unusual mortality” • Reporting mechanisms e.g. disease hotlines 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 8 8

9. Freedom – Alert – Definition – Response – Recovery 3. Incident Definition • Determine if incident relates to an emergency animal disease • Will inform decisions on response actions Arrangements include: • Field investigation capability (e.g. fisheries/biosecurity officers) • Initial response capability (e.g. quarantine, tracing, surveillance) • Legal powers to undertake response activities • Regional diagnostic capability (e.g. govt and private labs) • National reference laboratory (CSIRO AAHL) • Diagnostic standards and quality assurance (e.g. aquatic ANZSDPs, proficiency testing) 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 9 9

10. Freedom – Alert – Definition – Response – Recovery 4. Emergency Response • Response to contain or eradicate • Continues until disease is eradicated or contained - or a decision is made that it can’t be Arrangements include: • Decision-making – AqCCEAD - coordinate national technical response • Contingency plans – AQUAVETPLAN (Australian Aquatic Veterinary Emergency Plan) - provide technical information and preferred response options – state incident management plans 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 10 10

11. Freedom – Alert – Definition – Response – Recovery 5. Recovery • Industry recovery and return to business • Resumption of trade • Surveillance to prove freedom Arrangements include: • Surveillance • Market access negotiation • Research and development (to support risk mitigation) 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 11 11

12. How could the current arrangements be improved? 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 12 12

13. Significant arrangements in place Activities to strengthen our response arrangements • Update of ‘Aquatic Animal Diseases Significant to Australia: Identification Field Guide’ • Ongoing maintenance of contingency plans (e.g. AQUAVETPLAN) • Ongoing maintenance and expansion of diagnostic capability (e.g. national/regional proficiency testing, ANZSDPs) 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 13 13

14. Opportunities to strengthen current arrangements Activities to strengthen our response arrangements • Increase cooperation between industry and government • Strengthen risk mitigation activities (e.g. agreed national minimum biosecurity standards) • Strengthen motivation to manage disease emergencies for common interests (e.g. beneficiaries of a response share costs) 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 14 14

15. A terrestrial example Activities to strengthen our response arrangements • ‘Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement’ • Formal industry-government agreement - Eradication (or containment with view to eradicate) - Report diseases within 24 hrs - Develop and agree on response plan - Affected parties involved in decision making - Beneficiaries share cost of response - Opportunities for owner reimbursement - Ongoing risk mitigation activities 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 15 15

16. Formal industry-govt aquatic emergency response arrangements? • Workshop held to discuss possible aquatic arrangements • Participants included: – aquaculture – wild capture – recreational fishing – ornamental fish – Commonwealth (DAFF, CSIRO-AAHL) – state/territory government – Animal Health Australia – FRDC 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 16 16

17. Formal industry-govt aquatic emergency response arrangements? Preliminary outcomes: • Formal arrangements desirable to increase industry-govt cooperation • Industry desire to be involved in decision making in emergency response • Costs of emergency response should be shared by all beneficiaries • Ongoing risk management required to be party to any agreement Workshop report currently being prepared. Industry representatives present at workshop will consult industry. 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 17 17

18. Thankyou katie.humphrey@daff.gov.au 31 July 2012 Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Emergency disease management – the role of the Commonwealth Katie Humphrey 18 18