DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS
A list of acronyms used in this chapter is provided in Table 1.1.
The following definitions are used by Australia’s biosecurity, animal health and environment agencies:
Table 1.1.
List of acronyms used in this chapter| AAD | Australian Antarctic Division |
| AAT | Australian Antarctic Territory |
| ABLV | Australian bat lyssavirus |
| ACDP | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness |
| ACEBO | Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer |
| ACVO | Australian Chief Veterinary Officer |
| AHA | Animal Health Australia |
| AHC | Animal Health Committee |
| AHiA | Animal Health in Australia |
| AHSQ | Animal Health Surveillance Quarterly |
| AMR | Antimicrobial resistance |
| AMRRIC | Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities |
| APVMA AER Program | Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Adverse Experience Reporting Program |
| ARWH | Australian Registry of Wildlife Health |
| Ausvetplan | Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan |
| BHFG | Bat Health Focus Group |
| CITES | Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora |
| CVO | Chief Veterinary Officer |
| DAFF | Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| DCCEEW | Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |
| DoHAC | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care |
| EAD | Emergency animal disease (definition presented below) |
| EADRA | EAD Response Agreement |
| EEPL | The National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases (abbreviated to the Exotic Environmental Pest List) |
| EIC | Environment and Invasives Committee |
| EID | Emerging infectious disease (definition presented below) |
| eWHIS | Australia's National Wildlife Health Information System |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
| HASEDS | Human Animal Spillover and Emerging Disease Scanning Group |
| IGAB | Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity |
| IUCN SCC WHSG | International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Wildlife Health Specialist Group |
| IUCN SSC CPSG | International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Conservation Planning Specialist Group |
| NAHIS | National Animal Health Information System |
| NAQS | Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy |
| NBC | National Biosecurity Committee |
| NBCEN | National Biosecurity Communication and Engagement Network |
| NEBRA | National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement |
| NSDIP | National Significant Disease Investigation Program |
| UNEP | United Nations Environment Programme |
| WHA | Wildlife Health Australia |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| WILDDeST | Wildlife Health Incident Decision Support Tool |
| WOAH | World Organisation for Animal Health |
| WTO | World Trade Organization |
| ZAA | Zoo and Aquarium Association |
• ‘Wildlife’ - free-ranging populations of native and feral animals, including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
• ‘Disease’ - refers to unwanted health effects caused by any pathogen (e.g. virus, bacterium, fungus, parasite), toxin (e.g. chemical, algal) or physical factor (e.g. environmental, anthropogenic).
• ‘Wild animals’ - comprise native wildlife, feral animals and exotic fauna where ‘native wildlife’ are defined as animals that are indigenous to Australia; ‘feral animals’ are domestic animals that have become wild; and ‘exotic fauna’ are nondomestic animal species that are not indigenous to Australia.
• ‘Wildlife health’ - the physical, behavioural and social well-being of free-ranging animals at an individual, population and wider ecosystem level, and their resilience to change.
This chapter focuses on free-ranging native wildlife and specifically mammals, though the principles discussed are applicable to all wildlife in Australia under the broader definition.
• ‘Biosecurity’ - the management of risks to the economy, the environment and the community, of pests and diseases entering, emerging, establishing or spreading (IGAB 2012). Biosecurity refers to preventive measures and procedures designed to reduce the risk of transmission and manage the negative consequences of pests and diseases. For wildlife health this may include protocols and management actions to prevent:
• the spread of disease within a veterinary clinic from one native species to another native species, or other animals in the veterinary clinic setting
• the transmission of disease from native species to humans or from humans to native species
• the transmission of disease from native species to production and domestic animals and vice versa
• the transfer of disease with native species when reintroducing them to the environment.
Biosecurity protocols and activities may include cleaning of equipment between animals, isolation of sick animals, personal protective equipment or dedicated clothing for animal handlers.
• ‘Emergency animal disease’ - a disease that is likely to have significant effects on animals, potentially resulting in animal deaths, production loss and in some cases, impacts on human health, biodiversity and the environment (AHA 2021a).
EADs may be exotic to Australia, a variant of an endemic disease, a serious infectious disease of unknown or uncertain cause (e.g. possibly a new or emerging disease - see below) or a severe outbreak of a known endemic disease and considered to be of national significance with serious social or trade implications. In relation to EADs, wildlife may be impacted, a source of new and emerging diseases, the reservoir of an endemic disease, with potential for spillover, a deadend host or a spillover host and may play a role in the spread (including acting as a fomite) or maintenance of disease and/or act as an amplifying host.• ‘Exotic disease’ - a known pathogen that does not occur normally in Australia that may affect animals and/or humans. It is considered to be in Australia’s national interest to be free of these diseases. The National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases (abbreviated to the Exotic Environmental Pest List (EEPL)) identifies significant exotic pests, weeds and diseases that pose a risk to Australia’s natural environment, including our unique native plants, animals and First Nations’ heritage sites. There is a dedicated category for native animal diseases, which includes five higher-risk listings of which two can affect or have mammals as part of their epidemiology: exotic West Nile virus (other than WNV lineage 1b (Kunjin virus)) and white-nose syndrome of bats (Pseudogymnoascus destructans). The EEPL embeds wildlife as a central part of environmental biosecurity arrangements in Australia and supports the development of future priorities for this area.
• ‘Non-endemic variant’ of an endemic disease caused by a strain or type of the agent (e.g. pathogen) that can be distinguished from the endemic strain and would have significant impact if it became established in Australia.
• ‘Emerging diseases’ - diseases that are either novel (e.g. a new or previously undetected organism); or have an increased or changed distribution (e.g.
found in new locations or host species) or pathogenicity (e.g. causing increased severity of disease) on the population of interest (World Organisation for Animal Health 2023). Emerging diseases are thought to be due to several factors, including land-use change, globalisation and climate change (Plowright et al. 2008; McFarlane et al. 2013; Murray and Daszak 2013). Many emerging diseases have an animal origin, a common source being wildlife (Bunn and Woods 2005; Jones et al. 2008; Woolhouse 2008; McFarlane et al. 2013). The term EID is often used interchangeabley with the term ‘emerging disease’, but more specifically refers to diseases with an infectious aetiology (see Chapter 20).• ‘Notifiable or reportable animal diseases or prohibited matter’ - any diseases that are required by law to be immediately reported to government authorities. Australia has a national list of notifiable animal diseases. This list is based on the list of diseases notifiable to the WOAH and includes diseases covered by the EADRA. Each state and territory also has a notifiable animal disease list, which includes the diseases listed nationally but can include others specific to that state or territory. Anyone who suspects or diagnoses a notifiable disease has a legal responsibility to immediately report this to the appropriate authority (via the EAD Hotline), including when the disease is detected in wildlife (regardless of whether clinical signs are present or not).
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