ACDP provides the Australian government and industry groups with advice on exotic and emerging disease issues and advice in the general areas of biosecurity and counter-bioterrorism.
This expertise is also used to assist countries in the Asia Pacific region to deal with animal disease issues contributing to regional food security and biosecurity. This support not only reduces the disease risks to the countries themselves but also assists the preparedness of Australian biosecurity through better threat assessment and preparedness.
ACDP staff are members and active participants on many significant international and national networks including:
- World Health Organization
- World Organisation for Animal Health
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- OFFLU | OIE/FAO network of expertise on animal influenza
National networks
Some of the key national networks of which we are active members include:
- Laboratories for Emergency Animal Disease Diagnosis and Response initiative (LEADDR)
- AusVet Plan
- National Animal Health Laboratory Strategy (NAHLS)
- National Animal Health Surveillance Strategy (NAHSS)
- Sub-committee on Animal Health Laboratory Standards (SCAHLS).
These national networks all assist to protect the Australian livestock industry from the threat of disease outbreaks.
Support for the Asian region
ACDP supports Southeast Asian countries in their efforts to control and eradicate infectious animal diseases.
ACDP has an important role to play in the Asia Pacific region consistent with Australia's International Policy. In our role as an OIE Reference Laboratory and FAO Collaborating Center, ACDP provides diagnostic expertise and training to animal health laboratories across the region.
Our support not only reduces disease risk to the countries themselves, but better threat assessment and management of the viruses circulating in our nearest neighbours also assists Australia's own pre-border biosecurity.
Our many regional programs focus predominantly on high impact diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), classical swine fever (CSF), rabies virus and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
This work enhances the region's capacity for disease diagnosis and emergency outbreak response all within a framework of Australian standards of biosafety and biosecurity.
As the only high-containment animal health laboratory in the Asia-Pacific region, our expertise is also sought after to assist countries in a variety of other ways, including on matters of food security.