The challenge
Disease mitigation and outbreak response in Australia
Australia needs to protect it's livestock, aquaculture species and wildlife from the impact of infectious diseases. This in turn helps to ensure the ongoing competitiveness of Australian agriculture and trade.
Our response
ACDP
ACDP was officially opened in 1985 (although research work began in 1984). It plays a vital role in protecting the health of Australia’s livestock, aquaculture species and wildlife from the impact of infectious diseases. This in turn helps to ensure the ongoing competitiveness of Australian agriculture and trade.
Importantly, ACDP has the capability to respond rapidly to disease outbreaks that could have serious national impact. ACDP also helps to protect the general public from the threat of zoonotic diseases (viruses that pass from animals to humans).
Before ACDP opened, most samples that needed to be tested for exotic animal disease were sent overseas for analysis. This took considerable time and resulted in a loss of control over important trade-related information for Australia. The establishment of ACDP meant exotic diseases could be diagnosed within Australia, providing protection and support for Australia’s trade in the export of animal products and live animals. Since opening, ACDP has supported Australian state veterinary laboratories by testing hundreds of thousands of samples and has helped to detect and characterise many new viral diseases.
The results
Loss minimisation, cost reduction of disease outbreaks and improved health and wellbeing of Australian's
ACDP provides Australia with important disease mitigation and outbreak response mechanisms for animal and zoonotic (human pathogens of animal origin) diseases that could devastate industries such as beef production (worth $7.1 billion in 2012-13), aquaculture (worth $1.1 billion in 2011-12), horse racing (worth $6.2 billion per annum) and livestock breeding. ACDP also has an important role to play in protecting human health, which delivers benefits across the economy as a whole.
ACDP has produced impacts such as improved biodiversity, cost reduction of outbreaks of significant diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease, reduction of loss of life through the use of vaccines such as Equivac and a more reliable livestock trade industry.