EMAI scientists have repeatedly gained worldwide recognition in the scientific community, and they collaborate nationally and internationally with universities, and medical and agricultural institutes. The Institute's services are also linked to key research, extension and regulatory programs being conducted at other locations in NSW Department of Primary Industries' statewide laboratory and field network.

Research and diagnosis

EMAI has world-class facilities such as this electromagnetic microscope for research and diagnosis

NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) research and diagnostic animal health laboratories and the specialist virology laboratory provide a major defence against livestock diseases. Investigating the cause, spread and control of disease in livestock, particularly from a herd or flock perspective, are among the highest priorities.

The veterinary diagnostic laboratories, also accredited by NATA under ISO 17025, perform tests for health certification of livestock moving within Australia and overseas. The laboratories monitor and advise on animal diseases transmissible to humans, and provide laboratory support for food hygiene programs. The laboratories also diagnose diseases in bees and in Australia’s native fauna on behalf of agencies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The EMAI veterinary laboratories produce and provide national self-sufficiency in a range of diagnostic reagents, critical components of many of the diagnostic tests they develop. They also oversee commercial production, quality control and ongoing research into some vaccines and disease agents, including monitoring the potency of rabbit calicivirus.

EMAI is equipped with an electron microscope unit which provides a statewide service for NSW Department of Primary Industries. It is available for urgent disease diagnosis in both animals and plants.

EMAI’s major achievements for our livestock industries include the following:

Cattle

On-site dairy cattle allow EMAI to conduct thorough and on-going research

EMAI’s major achievements for the cattle industry include the following:

• Defining areas of NSW that are free of viruses such as Bluetongue, a major impediment to livestock exports. Research to refine, then supply, diagnostic tests to importing countries ensures tests for several viral diseases are available when livestock reach their destination.
• Identification and testing for genetic sequences that result in diseases like citrullinaemia, Pompe’s disease and alpha-mannosidosis has enabled cattle breeders to remove these lethal genetic defects from studs, leading to reduced losses of newborn calves from inherited disorders.
• Development of vaccines to control pestivirus infections in cattle — a major cause of reproductive loss through reduced conception, stillbirths and calf abnormalities. Vaccines tailored to provide optimal protection against Australian viruses are available for use in our cattle industries through a commercial partner.
• A highly sensitive liver fluke ELISA, developed at EMAI for detecting antibodies in blood, has significantly improved the diagnosis of this disease in cattle. Predominantly used as a herd-screening tool, this test has overcome the unreliability of faecal parasite detection methods. Research is underway to further refine and apply the test to indicate the success of anthelmintic treatment.
• Food safety research focuses on the molecular characterisation of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli strains. This has provided a clearer understanding of strains that are present in food-producing animal populations and their relationship with strains found in humans, particularly those associated with cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS).
• A limiting factor in bovine Johne’s disease control and surveillance is the cost of testing. Work has been undertaken to develop more cost-effective diagnostic tests suited to whole-herd testing of dairy and beef cattle.
• A highly successful eradication program against enzootic bovine leucosis (EBL), a viral disease that can cause cancer in dairy cattle, is nearing completion. In 1993 about 600 dairy herds in NSW (about 25%) were infected. After the application of modern technology for diagnostic tests, in a program lasting less than 10 years, the state’s dairy herd was declared provisionally free of EBL infection. EMAI scientists continue to play a key role in developing new technologies for global application in EBL diagnosis and monitoring.
• The central feature in a new commercial and research dairy at EMAI is an automatic computer system which identifies each cow, controls feeding and records milk production data. The dairy provides a platform for future research for the dairy industry. A project to define the optimum rate of phosphorus fertiliser for profitable milk production and its movement of phosphorus through surface and ground water has been completed.

Sheep

Sheep at EMAI allow researchers to monitor the effects of vaccination

EMAI’s major achievements for the sheep industry include the following:

• Ovine Johne’s disease (OJD) research at EMAI continues to be be undertaken in collaboration with scientists at Sydney University. These projects are investigating diagnostic tests for disease detection and management and the effect of vaccination on disease spread in infected flocks. Improved knowledge is now available on the ability of the current range of tests to detect OJD in individual sheep, from prior biopsy studies. The pooled faecal culture test for OJD, developed by EMAI scientists, has provided reliable detection of infected flocks, enabling improved disease control and stock movement procedures. Work is continuing to provide more cost-effective assessments of flock status and disease prevalence. 
• Monitoring of internal parasites of sheep at EMAI and other NSW Department of Primary Industries laboratories has confirmed the widespread extent and increasing severity of resistance to the main drench classes. Resistance in brown stomach worm to the non-persistent macrocyclic lactone (ML), ivermectin, has been discovered for the first time in eastern Australia in several properties in southern NSW. A multi-drug-resistant barber’s pole worm has also been found with the ability to withstand the persistent ML, moxidectin. Research is continuing to define the biological importance of this phenomenon. Research is also being undertaken to investigate the use of certain natural products in plants and organics as natural antiparasitics.
• The closantel resistance test for barber’s pole worm developed at EMAI is available as a commercial test through the NSW Agriculture laboratory network. In collaboration with Agriculture WA and CSIRO, EMAI scientists evaluated the cost effectiveness of the detection of worm parasites by faecal examinations. Modified, streamlined and cheaper tests for routine monitoring are now available. In addition, an ELISA test for the detection of subclinical infestations of sheep body lice, developed at EMAI, is being further developed into a kit for on-farm use in cooperation with CSIRO, Australian Wool Innovation and a commercial partner.
• Collaborative work between scientists at EMAI and Trangie Agricultural Research Centre has improved the efficiency of wet dipping practices and has highlighted deficiencies in current practice. Associated research on environmentally sound disposal of spent sheep-dip washes is improving the sustainability of wet dipping.
• EMAI is the national centre for insecticide resistance research for sheep blowfly and sheep lice. EMAI researchers have detected high-level resistance to diflubenzuron in sheep blowfly populations from Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Pigs

EMAI undertakes diagnostic work that benefits the pig industry

• New diagnostic tests for pleuropneumonia and mycoplasma pneumonia have been developed to improve disease control. EMAI studies of the mechanisms used by mycoplasma organisms to adhere to the respiratory tract and initiate pneumonia are also helping to develop new vaccines and diagnostics. Collaborative research with field veterinarians and vaccine manufacturers is continuing to evaluate existing and new swine erysipelas vaccines and to develop assays to assess protective immune responses to erysipelas.
• Work is continuing to accurately determine food intake, growth, carcase lean meat and fat responses of pigs over a wide range of liveweight. Using a new CT scan facility, data has been obtained for the AUSPIG computer model to assist pig producers to improve management decisions and profitability. Information from experimental disease challenge models has also been produced for the AUSPIG model, providing valuable data to assess the effect of disease on pig nutrition, growth and carcase composition. Collaborative studies with Sydney University are now seeking to measure the growth and carcase effects of dietary fatty acids given to gilts and piglets.
• Using challenge model systems and new diagnostic tests, studies are underway to provide a better understanding of the value of various management options and preventive strategies for controlling ileitis (Lawsonia infection) in weaner and grower pigs. The development and evaluation of orally delivered biological products such as nutraceuticals and probiotics is also being undertaken with the intent to test their effectiveness against post-weaning colibacillosis.

Aquaculture

EMAI conducts diagnostic capabilities for the aquaculture sector

• EMAI scientists are assisting the oyster, prawn and fishing sectors in developing and providing an ongoing diagnostic capability for a range of microorganisms affecting production and trade. Molecular testing for several pathogens has been developed, providing valuable information to assist biosecurity of our state’s aquaculture industries.

Bees

• EMAI provides a diagnostic service for honey bee diseases through the Regional Veterinary Laboratory. This primarily involves the diagnosis of the microbial diseases of honey bees and includes testing honey samples for American foulbrood spores, which provides an effective means of tracing this important notifiable bacterial disease.
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  Inspecting bees

• EMAI carries out applied research in the areas of microbial diseases and the Small Hive Beetle. Staff are involved in research aimed at the development of a safe, effective insecticidal refuge trap to control adult Small Hive Beetles, Aethina tumida in hives. Other research areas include determining the prevalence of Nosema apis (a parasite which affects adult bees) in Australia and management practices which will minimise the effects of this disease. The development of alternative treatment options to oxytetracycline for European foulbrood using fatty acids is also currently under investigation.
  

Poultry

EMAI’s major achievements for the poultry industry include the following:

• EMAI provides the state’s major defence against poultry diseases through field and laboratory investigations of endemic and exotic diseases, monitoring and surveillance of significant poultry diseases and organisms of public health concern. EMAI carries out research and accreditation programs that monitor human safety aspects of poultry products. EMAI scientists investigate diseases of public health concern in wild, aviary or pet birds as well as commercial poultry, and conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of new poultry vaccines.
• A globally unique NSW Salmonella Monitoring and Accreditation Scheme — a joint initiative of NSW Agriculture and egg producers — has been established to enable early detection of bacterial infection of eggs before they reach supermarket shelves.
• A collaborative international project is seeking to identify important proteins of the pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum, using techniques adapted from studies of pig mycoplasmas.