An Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) is a disease that is likely to have significant impacts on our animal industries – potentially resulting in mass deaths, significant production loss, and in some cases, impacts on human health, the environment and the economy.

An EAD is a disease which meets one or more of the following criteria:

“(a) exotic to Australia or (b) a variant of an endemic disease or (c) a serious infectious disease of unknown or uncertain cause or (d) a severe outbreak of a known endemic disease, and that is considered to be of national significance with serious social or trade implications” Animal Health Australia, AUSVETPLAN Overview, Glossary, Standard AUSVETPLAN terms, Version 5.1, 2023.
Overview - Animal Health Australia

If you suspect an Emergency Animal Disease, you must report it immediately by phoning the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888 at any time, or by phoning your Local Land Services District Veterinarian on 1300 795 299 during business hours.

Once signs of a potential EAD are reported to a veterinarian or the EAD hotline (1800 675 888):

1. An investigation is commenced by a government veterinarian – usually from Local Land Services
2. The NSW Chief Veterinary Officer is informed
3. Samples are submitted to state and national laboratories for testing.

If an EAD is confirmed, the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer is informed, and steps outlined in the nationally agreed Emergency Response Arrangements commence.

The affected state creates a response plan using the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN) as guidance, and submits it to the national Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Disease (CCEAD) who assess the technical components and once satisfied submit the plan to the National Management Group (NMG) for approval.

This approval process includes recommendations for cost-sharing which occurs in line with the principles of the Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA).

The Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement (EADRA) is a unique contractual arrangement that brings together the Australian, state and territory governments and livestock industry groups to collectively and significantly increase Australia’s capacity to prepare for - and respond to - EAD incursions. Animal Health Australia (AHA) manages the EADRA.

Find out more at Animal Health Australia.

Animal Health Australia (AHA) manages the development and review of the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan (AUSVETPLAN) on behalf of its members. AUSVETPLAN contains the nationally agreed approach for the response to EAD incidents in Australia.

The measures used to respond to an EAD outbreak can differ between diseases, depending on the nature of the disease, the species impacted and a range of other factors. The policy is typically to control and eradicate the disease in the shortest possible time using a combination of strategies outlined in the AUSVETPLAN disease specific response strategy.

Some management strategies include:

• Movement restrictions - these may apply to animals or animal products in a specific region and aim to reduce the spread of disease. An example of movement restrictions is the National Livestock Standstill that would be implemented if Australia were to have an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
• Surveillance - targeted activities undertaken to detect the presence of disease. This could include activities such as inspecting livestock on properties neighbouring those where the EAD has been detected.
• Tracing - using movement records such as the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) to determine where animal have been and where the disease may have spread.
• Culling - the destruction and disposal of animals infected with the EAD to prevent further spread of the disease
• Decontamination - undertaking cleaning and disinfection processes of contaminated areas and equipment to prevent further spread of the disease
• Vaccination - vaccines are available for some EADs and may be used to prevent animals becoming infected or to reduce the severity of disease and risk of further spread.

Prohibited matter refers to a defined list of pests and diseases that are outlined in the Biosecurity Act 2015 . The prohibited matter list includes diseases that are exotic to Australia (such as foot and mouth disease), diseases that are exotic to New South Wales but present in other parts of Australia (such as Devil Facial Tumour Disease) and other Emergency Animal Diseases that can have serious consequences to animal or human health (such as Hendra virus infection and anthrax).

** this list excludes diseases of bees. These can be found at Bee Diseases (nsw.gov.au)

A

• African Horse Sickness
• African Swine Fever
• Anthrax
• Aujeszky’s disease virus
• Australian bat lyssavirus (clinical disease in animals other than bats)

B

• Bluetongue (clinical disease)
• Borna disease virus
• Bovine Brucellosis (B abortus)
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
• Bovine Virus Diarrhea type 2
• Brucellosis (Brucella melitensis)

C

• Camelpox
• Canine brucellosis (Brucella canis)
• Chagas’ disease
• Chronic wasting disease of deer
• Classical Swine Fever Virus
• Contagious agalactia
• Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
• Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
• Contagious equine metritis
• Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever

D

• Devil Facial Tumour Disease
• Dourine

E

• Echinococcus multilocularis
• Enzootic abortion of ewes/ovine chlamydiosis
• Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (clinical disease)
• Equine encephalomyelitis (Eastern, Western and Venezuelan)
• Equine encephalosis virus
• Equine herpes—virus 1 (neurological strain)   
• Equine influenza
• Equine piroplasmosis (Babesia caballi)
• Equine piroplasmosis (Theileria equi)
• Exotic theileria/ East coast fever (T parva)

F

• Feline spongiform encephalopathy
• Foot and mouth disease
• Fowl typhoid (S gallinarum)

G

• Getah virus
• Glanders
• Goat pox

H

• Haemorrhagic septicaemia
• Heartwater
• Hendra virus (except in pteropid bats)
• Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)

I

• Infectious bursal disease (very virulent and exotic antigenic variant forms)

J

• Japanese encephalitis
• Jembrana disease virus

K

L

• Louping ill
• Lumpy skin disease
• Lyssavirus (exotic genotypes)

M

• Maedi-visna
• Malignant catarrhal fever (wildebeest associated)
• Mediterranean theileriosis/Tropical theileriosis
• Menangle virus

N

• Nairobi sheep disease
• Newcastle disease (all strains other than non-pathogenic V4-like strains)
• Nipah virus

O

P

• Peste des petits ruminants virus
• Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus
• Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome
• Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome
• Potomac fever
• Pulmonary adenomatosis (Jaagsiekte)

Q
R

• Rabies
• Rift Valley fever virus
• Rinderpest virus

S

• Salmonellosis (Salmonella abortus-equi)
• Salmonellosis (Salmonella abortus-ovis)
• Scrapie
• Screw-worm fly—New World
• Screw-worm fly—Old World
• Sheep pox
• Sheep scab
• Surra
• Swine influenza (except influenza A(H1N1)pdm09)
• Swine vesicular disease virus

T

• Teschovirus encephalomyelitis
• Transmissible gastroenteritis
• Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
• Trichinellosis
• Trichomoniasis (T foetus)
• Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps clareae)
• Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps mercedesae)
• Tuberculosis/Bovine tuberculosis
• Tularaemia
• Turkey rhinotracheitis

U
V

• Vesicular exanthema
• Vesicular stomatitis virus

W

• Warble-fly myiasis
• Wesselsbron virus
• West Nile Virus infection – clinical

X
Y
Z

A number of pests and diseases of animals are notifiable under NSW legislation .

This means there is a duty, or legal obligation, to notify authorities if you know or suspect that an animal has one of these pests or diseases or if you have any suspicion or awareness of a biosecurity event.

A number of animal pests and diseases are listed as notifiable because they are exotic to Australia, (such as foot and mouth disease and rabies) and if established here could impact severely on animal health, trade, livestock production, human health or the environment.

Some other diseases that already exist in Australia are notifiable because there is a disease control program in place, there is a risk of zoonotic disease , the disease occurs in parts of Australia other than NSW, or because livestock, livestock products, or their property of origin needs to be certified in terms of disease.

By remaining vigilant and notifying as soon as you suspect a notifiable pest, disease or event, you can play a vital role in protecting livestock industries and preventing disease spread to animals and possibly to humans.

In NSW you must notify the suspicion or awareness of prohibited matter or other notifiable diseases according to the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 .

In addition, chemical residues in animal products or stock feed can have serious consequences for trade, production or human health.  By remaining vigilant and acting quickly if you suspect a significant animal pest, disease or residue, you may be able to prevent these consequences.

There is a duty to notify any awareness or suspicion of notifiable matter or a biosecurity event. The duty to notify is detailed in the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Sections 30 and 38) and the Biosecurity Regulation 2019 (clause 7) .

This duty applies to an owner, occupier, or person in charge, care, control or custody of a premises (such as a property), or a carrier or thing (such as an animal, animal product, vehicle or equipment) to which the notifiable matter or biosecurity event relates.

This duty also applies to a person consulting in their professional capacity (such as a veterinarian). There is no requirement to report if you know the matter has already been reported.

By notifying as soon as you suspect a notifiable pest, disease or event you can play a vital role in protecting livestock industries and preventing disease spread to animals and possibly to humans.

Suspicion or awareness of prohibited matter and biosecurity events must be immediately reported verbally to an authorised officer.

This can be done by phoning:  
* The Animal Disease Hotline 1800 675 888 (24 hour hotline), or  
* Your Local Land Services 1300 795 299 (during working hours)

Suspicion or awareness of other listed notifiable pests and diseases of animals must be notified within one working day.

This can be done by:  
* Phoning Local Land Services 1300 795 299, or  
* Contacting a NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development authorised officer  
* For less urgent cases (that are not potentially prohibited matter or a biosecurity event) it is possible to use the  Notifiable Pests and Diseases of Animals Reporting Form PDF, 191.78 KB to notify. When in doubt as to whether you are dealing with prohibited matter, a biosecurity event, or another listed notifiable pest or disease of animals, it is better to phone to ensure you fulfil your duty to notify.

When samples from healthy animals are being submitted and tested for the purpose of meeting the requirements of an export protocol or accreditation program, notification is only required when there are positive or inconclusive test results.

Any laboratory, research institution, business or individual that is providing testing for prohibited matter has a requirement to inform the NSW Chief Veterinary Officer of their testing facility and testing program.

A person must notify of the following:  
a) the person’s full name and contact phone number  
b) details of the notifiable matter  
c) the location of the notifiable matter including, if the notifiable matter is on a property with a property identification code (PIC), the property identification code. If the property does not have a PIC, the location must include the road/street/lane number. If this is unavailable, the lot and deposited plan (DP) number must be provided.
d) in the case of a biosecurity event, details of the significant biosecurity impact  
e) any other information requested by the authorised officer.

For general inquiries regarding biosecurity, phone 1800 680 244 or email animal.biosecurity@dpird.nsw.gov.au

A

• Anaplasmosis (A marginale)
• Australian bat lyssavirus in bats
• Avian influenza
• Avian mycoplasma
• Avian tuberculosis

B

• Babesiosis
• Bovine cysticercosis (C bovis)
• Brucellosis (B suis)

C

• Cattle Tick (R austalis, R microplus)
• Chlamydiosis in poultry and other birds

D

• Duck Virus enteritis / Duck Plague
• Duck Virus Hepatitis

E

• Egg drop syndrome (EDS 76)
• Ehrlichiosis (E canis)
• Enzootic bovine leucosis
• Equine herpes virus 1 (abortigenic strain)
• Equine infectious anaemia
• Equine viral arteritis

F

• Footrot in sheep and goats

G
H
I

• Infectious laryngotracheitis
• Influenza pandemic A (H1N1) pdm09

J

• Johne’s disease

K

L

• Leishmaniasis

M
N
O
P

• Pigeon paramyxovirus
• Porcine cysticercosis
• Porcine myocarditis (Bungowannah virus infection)
• Pullorum Disease (S pullorum)

Q
R
S

• Salmonella enteritidis (SE)
• Seneca Valley virus (senecavirus A)

T

• Trichomoniasis (T foetus)

U
V
W

• White Nose Syndrome in bats

X
Y
Z

A combined list of Prohibited matter, notifiable and endemic animal diseases of concern for NSW sorted by species:

Animal diseases of concern for NSW sorted by species

Under the Biosecurity Act 2015 , a biosecurity event means an occurrence that is likely to have an adverse effect on the economy, the environment or the community that is caused by biosecurity matter or by dealing with that biosecurity matter.

Biosecurity events include new or emerging disease events, a significant disease event from a listed notifiable disease (other than prohibited matter), prohibited feed events such as feeding of 'swill' to pigs or restricted animal material (RAM) to ruminants, or chemical contamination events.

Also, the Biosecurity Regulation 2017 declares the following to be biosecurity events in animals:
a) the appearance of ulcers or blisters on the mouth or feet of ruminants or pigs,
b) an unexplained and significant increase in a mortality rate or morbidity rate in animals,
c) an unexplained and significant fall in production relating to animals,
d) the appearance of other unexplained and significant clinical signs in animals including, but not limited to, unexplained neurological signs or conditions.