Esperance self-managed Sheep Biosecurity Group
| Project start date: | 15 November 2013 |
| Project end date: | 30 June 2017 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Sheep, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | Southern Australia |
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Summary
In January 2011, Western Australia’s Ovine Johnes Disease (OJD) status was downgraded from low to medium. Unlike other states, the WA rating was applied as a blanket rating across the whole state and no attempt was made to define the areas or regions of greatest OJD risk.
This Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) tested whether a self-managed biosecurity group operating under a common set of principles can maintain OJD prevalence to 1% or less within the group member’s flocks.
The PDS successfully created a QA style self-managed biosecurity model that could also accommodate other infectious diseases if needed. The model involves the ASHEEP QA group using bulked data from the Independent Veterinary Monitor (IVM), plus annual member survey to produce an annually updated Regional Assurance document.
Objectives
The objectives of this PDS were to
• demonstrate that a self-managed group can be efficient and compliant with common operating principles
• develop and demonstrate a system, for securing a local supply of certifiable disease-free sheep that may provide some premium pricing for members
• demonstrate the feasibility of accommodating multiple disease conditions within an OJD Plan while maintaining a low OJD prevalence of 1% or less.
Progress
This PDS determined that:
• the incidence of OJD in the Esperance area is higher than initially thought, although, it is likely to be in an early stage and at low incidence to opportunities for its control are positive
• Pool Faecal Culture (PFC) testing is a far more accurate process than abattoir surveillance, especially in the early stages of infection
• the OJD vaccination can either be used as a blanket security control or a valuable tool in early eradication and shouldn’t be avoided on cost grounds
• disease education programs work best when the impact of the threat is made most evident.
