VICTORIA’S Department of Primary Industries did not require producers who had sold sheep detected with Ovine Johne’s Disease to undertake more testing or vaccination.
“That’s not our requirement no,” DPI animal health manager Tony Britt said this week.
Dr Britt said the department notified producers when OJD was detected in sheep through abattoir testing and provided them with “advice around that detection”.
He disputed any suggestion that any change in the DPI’s OJD role or activities had contributed to the ongoing spread of the disease.
“This program has for quite some time been an industry managed program – it’s led by industry.
“The role of the department in the context of this program is very much as a partner with industry.
“You can ask the question of industry, but the role of the department has evolved as the view of industry has evolved in regard to this particular disease,” he said.
“We are dealing with an endemic disease here … that is being managed at a national level essentially by the Sheepmeats Council of Australia and Woolproducers.
“And the focus of their media release recently was around encouraging producers to use the tools available to them to minimise the risk.”
DPI principal veterinary officer Dr Alison Lee said the abattoir surveillance program for OJD in Victorian abattoirs was managed on behalf of Animal Health Australia, not the DPI.
It was not possible to quickly and accurately track sheep in boxed lines sourced from saleyards because of difficulties accurately correlating visually readable ear tags with carcases once the head was removed, she said.
“The department’s role is to support the integrity of the industry tools that have been introduced to assist producers minimise the risk of inadvertently introducing infectious diseases.”
These tools included vaccination, only purchasing sheep with Gudair-vaccinated sheep or those with a high ABC score and ensuring good farm bio-security. Compulsory vaccination against OJD was not under consideration in Victoria, Dr Lee said.
Animal Health Australia’s endemic disease manager Lorna Citer said farmers asked to agist sheep should ask for an animal health statement for the agisted flock to minimise the OJD risk.
“The sheep health statement was a risk management tool and agents that request them on behalf of their clients were acting in the best interests of all parties—both buyer and vendor – as the transaction is transparent and confusion is avoided over the disease status of the sheep.
“In medium prevalence areas, sheep that are unvaccinated and have no other assurance credits offer little assurance, particularly since the prevalence estimate has been exceeded.”
Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association chief executive officer Andrew Madigan said agents advised clients if they wanted full competition on their sheep they should supply animal health statements, a completed national vendor declaration and an ABC score for the sale mob.
“An animal health statement was a declaration by the vendor not by the agent.
“All producers should take care they don’t buy a risk and think about vaccinating to stop the risk,” he said.
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