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Issue 52 | May 2009
In August 2007 an outbreak of horse flu
threw Australia's multi-billion dollar horse
industry into turmoil. An immediate
response, involving Federal and State
Governments and industry organisations
launched to contain and eradicate the
virus,
was underpinned by AAHL's ability
to
rapidly and accurately diagnose
the disease
CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) plays a vital role in maintaining Australia's capability to quickly diagnose exotic (foreign) and emerging animal diseases which threaten our livestock, aquaculture species, wildlife and humans.
In August 2007, AAHL found itself in the national spotlight as an outbreak of the exotic animal disease Equine Influenza (EI) threw Australia's multi-billion dollar horse industry into turmoil.
An immediate response, involving Federal and State Governments and industry organisations launched to contain and eradicate EI, was underpinned by AAHL's ability to rapidly and accurately diagnose the disease, which had never before been seen in Australia.
According to AAHL Director Martyn Jeggo, this type of incident is a major reason for the establishment of Geelong's high biocontainment facility.
'AAHL's core responsibility is to respond to emergency animal disease outbreaks such as the horse flu outbreak in 2007', he said. 'We really rose to the challenge, working around the clock in shifts, when necessary, to diagnose the enormous numbers of samples that flooded into the facility from all across the country.'
The role of rapidly diagnosing emergency disease outbreaks is of crucial importance in allowing emergency diseases to be ruled out or in ensuring control strategies can be quickly implemented.
The outbreak of EI in August 2007, proved to be the largest emergency animal disease event in Australian history and although primarily involving two infected States, thousands of horses across the country were tested during the course of the outbreak.
'AAHL scientists successfully isolated the EI outbreak virus, enabling full genetic sequencing of that particular strain', Martyn said. 'This information helped determine the probable source of the infection and assisted veterinary authorities in selecting the most appropriate vaccine strain.'
According to Martyn, eradicating EI from Australia was a significant achievement.
'Australia should be proud as we are one of the few countries to eradicate the disease thanks to the team effort between Federal and State levels', he said.
Last year, the EI team received the prestigious Service from Science Award at the 7th CSIRO Strategic Excellence Awards ceremony. The team received the award for a significant contribution to the national effort to control and eradicate the highly contagious horse disease.
On accepting the award, on behalf of the EI team, Martyn highlighted that not only did staff work together from all facets of the organisation but external collaborations also played an important role in the emergency animal disease response.
'There was a true partnership between scientists at AAHL and those working in State laboratories, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, that ensured a genuine national 'one laboratory' approach to meeting the enormous testing demands associated with the outbreak', he said.
Last year CSIRO's Equine Influenza team received the prestigious Service from Science Award at the 7th CSIRO Strategic Excellence Awards ceremony. Pictured here are only a handful of the approximate 150 AAHL staff who were recognised for their efforts in responding to the emergency animal disease outbreak
