Livestock biosecurity

The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia’s Livestock Biosecurity Program is part of the national animal health framework that underpins and enhances Australia’s and Western Australia’s (WA) market access for animals and animal products. 

The value of Australia’s export of animals and animal products relies on being able to maintain and demonstrate WA’s excellent animal health and residue-safe food status, a comprehensive livestock traceability system, regulated inter-state and intra-state movement to manage pest and diseases and industry supported disease control programs.  

The Livestock Biosecurity Program manages a number of regulatory activities to support stock identification and traceability, disease surveillance, animal movement requirements and preparedness to respond to diseases such as foot and mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The consequences of these diseases are rated as being catastrophic to the Australian economy, and diseases such as H5N1 avian influenza and rabies may cause death in humans.

Additionally the program regulates activities to protect human health via food safety regulatory activities, chemical management and by monitoring for emerging zoonoses - diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Early detection of any significant animal disease incursion is essential to minimise the impact on the economy, the community and primary production.  Any delay in detection would mean eradication and/or control will be considerably more difficult and expensive or, in the worst case scenario, may not be feasible at all.

Articles

  • This webpage outlines the market impacts of a Johne’s disease (JD) diagnosis, biosecurity practices to reduce the likelihood of JD in sheep occurring on your property, the SheepMAP program, and opt

  • Agistment is an option for removing livestock from a property, for a number of reasons – after a fire, when paddock feed is inadequate, to spell pastures, or to finish livestock for sale on better

  • Lupinosis is a liver disease mainly caused by the consumption of lupin stalks colonised by the fungus Diaporthe toxica. It can be expressed as either a severe acute disease or as a chronic

  • The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) regulates standards for livestock feed including labelling so that meat, milk and eggs produced from WA livestock are safe for

  • Western Australia is free from many diseases that financially impact livestock producers, including horse owners, in eastern Australia.

  • Pigeon rotavirus was first detected in Western Australia as a result of investigation of a disease outbreak in racing pigeons in May and June 2016.

  • Pig owners play a vital role in maintaining Western Australia's high animal health status and reputation as a producer of quality livestock and livestock products.

  • Cattle producers in the shires of Albany, Denmark and Plantagenet in Western Australia and sheep producers in the shires of Esperance and Ravensthorpe are invited to participate in local surveillan

  • The Northern Australia Biosecurity Surveillance (NABS) project is a coordinated surveillance program to enhance the early detection of exotic disease incursions and to provide sufficient surveillan

  • ‘Calf scours’ is when young calves develop diarrhoea and become dehydrated. The scour can be white, yellow, grey or blood-stained, and is often foul-smelling.

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