A $1 million grant to strengthen Indonesia’s exotic animal disease testing capabilities is set to protect Australia against diseases like lumpy skin disease (LSD) and foot and mouth disease (FMD).
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry grant given to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) is a component of the Australia Government’s collaborative, regional strategy to combat highly contagious animal diseases that could have detrimental effects on Australia’s animal health and trade.
The grant is part of the Federal Government’s $134 million investment in new, long-term biosecurity financing to strengthen the nation’s response to exotic illnesses like FMD and LSD.
The new measures include $9 million for border response, additional frontline biosecurity officers, redeployment of detection canines to Cairns and Darwin, and $5.9 million for the distribution of four million FMD vaccination doses to Indonesia.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt stated that the grant would allow CSIRO staff to collaborate with the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture to improve their laboratory competence for disease diagnostics.
“Australia remains free from both foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease. But it is critical we continue support our close neighbours to prevent or respond effectively to these diseases which can have a devastating effect on their food security and economic wellbeing,” Minister Watt said.
According to the Minister, helping Australia’s close neighbours will also protect Australia and other countries in the region.
“Our strong partnerships with countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste is helping us to continue to safeguard our agriculture sector and the industries on which it relies,” Minister Watt added.
Minister Watt explained that it is just another way Australia is trying to guarantee that the country’s biosecurity system protects the prosperity of farmers, producers, and rural communities.
The grant will help create laboratory proficiency testing procedures for FMD and LSD in Indonesia.
The network of Disease Investigation Centres, which includes national reference laboratories for various diseases, is managed by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture.
The FMD and LSD proficiency testing system will allow the Disease Investigation Centre network to assess the quality of their diagnosis and identify areas for improvement.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall stated that ACDP was vital in protecting Australia from the pandemic and establishing future resilience against biosecurity threats.
“As the national science agency, CSIRO’s national labs support Team Australia as part of a regional network to help both Australia and neighbouring partners like Indonesia to respond to these threats through accurate identification and detection in real time,” Dr Marshall said.
Dr Marshall added that there is no better way to combat global risks than through global partnership – by assisting Australia’s Indo-Pacific neighbours in strengthening their biosecurity and, in turn, strengthening Australia’s own protection against the most severe animal disease threats to the nation.
ACDP staff will collaborate with Indonesian laboratories to develop control materials that can be safely delivered to all government laboratories in the Indonesian network to assure the accuracy and consistency of their diagnostic testing.
ACDP will also train national reference laboratories to examine and analyse proficiency testing program findings to identify areas for improvement and undertake training to close these gaps.
