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| Anadromous fish | Fish species that hatch and live initially in freshwater (as fry), undergo smolt and migrate to seawater (for ‘grow-out’) and then return to freshwater to spawn. See also Catadromous fish |
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| Aquatic Animal Health | Committee A committee comprising representatives of the Australian government, Australian state and territory governments, the major aquaculture, wild capture, aquarium and recreational fishing industries and a CSIRO representative. The committee provides advice to Primary Industries Ministerial Council on aquatic animal health matters, focusing on technical issues and regulatory policy. See also Primary Industries Ministerial Council |
| Australian Chief Veterinary Officer | The nominated senior veterinarian in the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry who manages international animal health commitments and the Australian Government’s response to an animal disease outbreak. See also Chief veterinary officer |
| AQUAVETPLAN | Australian Aquatic Veterinary Emergency Plan. A series of technical response plans that describe the proposed Australian approach to an emergency aquatic animal disease incident. See also AUSVETPLAN |
| AUSVETPLAN | Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan. A series of technical response plans that describe the proposed Australian approach to an emergency animal disease incident. The documents provide guidance based on sound analysis, linking policy, strategies, implementation, coordination and emergency-management plans. |
| Catadromous fish | Fish species that hatch and live initially in seawater (as fry), undergo smolt and migrate to freshwater (for ‘grow-out’) and then return to seawater to spawn. See also Anadromous fish |
| Chief veterinary officer(CVO) | The senior veterinarian of the animal health authority in each jurisdiction (national, state or territory) who has responsibility for animal disease control in that jurisdiction. See also Australian Chief Veterinary Officer |
| Compensation | The sum of money paid by government to an owner for stock that are destroyed and property that is compulsorily destroyed because of an emergency animal disease. |
| Control area | A buffer between the restricted area and areas free of disease. Restrictions on this area will reduce the likelihood of the disease spreading further afield. As the extent of the outbreak is confirmed, the control area may reduce in size. The shape of the area may be modified according to circumstances, eg water flows, catchment limits etc. In most cases, permits will be required to move animals and specified product out of the control area into the free area. |
| Covert infection | Clinically inapparent infection betanodavirus that is transmissible and that may eventually lead to clinical disease. |
| Dangerous contact animal | A susceptible animal that has been designated as being exposed to other infected animals or potentially infectious products following tracing and epidemiological investigation. |
| Dangerous contact premises or area | That which has had a direct, and possibly infectious, contact with an infected premises/area. The type of contact will depend on the agent involved in the outbreak but, for example, may involve animal movements or net/equipment movements. |
| Declared area | A defined tract of land or water that is subjected to disease control restrictions under emergency animal disease legislation. Types of declared areas include restricted area, control area, infected premises, dangerous contact premises and suspect premises. |
| Decontamination | Includes all stages of cleaning and disinfection. |
| Disease agent | A general term for a transmissible organism or other factor that causes an infectious disease. |
| Disinfectant | A chemical used to destroy disease agents outside a living animal. |
| Disinfection | The application, after thorough cleansing, of procedures intended to destroy the infectious or parasitic agents of animal diseases, including zoonoses; applies to premises, vehicles and other objects that may have been directly or indirectly contaminated. |
| Disposal | Sanitary removal of fish carcases and things by burial, burning or some other process so as to prevent the spread of disease. |
| Emergency animal disease | A disease that is (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 aknown endemic disease, and that is considered to be of national significance with serious social or trade implications.See also Endemic animal disease, Exotic animal disease |
| Endemic animal disease | A disease affecting animals (which may include humans) that is known to occur in Australia. See also Emergency animal disease, Exotic animal disease |
| Enterprise | See Risk enterprise |
| Epidemiological investigation | An investigation to identify and qualify the risk factors associated with the disease. |
| Exotic animal disease | A disease affecting animals (which may include humans) that does not normally occur in Australia. See also Emergency animal disease, Endemic animal disease |
| Fish byproducts | Products of fish origin destined for industrial use (eg fishmeal). |
| Fish products | Fish meat products and products of fish origin (eg eggs) for human consumption or use in animal feeding. |
| Free area | An area known to be free of the disease agent. |
| Infected premises or area | The area in which the disease has been confirmed. Definition of an ‘infected area’ is more likely to apply to an open system, such as an oceanic fish farm lease. |
| Mitigation | Reduction in severity of a disease to reduce its impact. |
| Monitoring | Routine collection of data for assessing the health status of a population. See also Surveillance |
| Movement control | Restrictions placed on the movement of fish, people and other things to prevent the spread of disease. |
| OIE Aquatic Code | OIE International Aquatic Animal Health Code (OIE 2004). Published on the internet at: http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/fcode/a_index.htm (Accessed 11 May 2005). |
| Operational procedures | Detailed instructions for carrying out specific disease control activities, such as disposal, destruction, decontamination and valuation. |
| Owner | Person responsible for a premises (includes an agent of the owner, such as a manager or other controlling officer). |
| Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) | A method of amplifying and analysing DNA sequences that can be used to detect the presence of virus DNA. See also Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and Nested RT-PCR |
| Premises or area | A production site, which may range from an aquarium to an aquaculture lease in the open ocean. |
| Prevalence | The proportion (or percentage) of animals in a particular population affected by a particular disease (or infection or positive antibody titre) at a given point in time. |
| Primary Industries Ministerial Council | The council of Australian national, state and territory and New Zealand ministers of agriculture that sets Australian and New Zealand agricultural policy (formerly the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand). |
| Quarantine | Legal restrictions imposed on a place, fish, vehicles, or other things, limiting movement. |
| Restricted area | The area around an infected premises (or area), likely to be subject to intense surveillance and movement controls. It is likely to be relatively small. It may include some dangerous contact premises (or area) and some suspect premises (or area), as well as enterprises that are not infected or under suspicion. Movement of potential vectors of disease out of the area will, in general, be prohibited. Movement into the restricted area would only be by permit. Multiple restricted areas may exist within one control area. |
| Risk enterprise | A defined livestock or related enterprise, which is potentially a major source of infection for many other premises. Includes hatcheries, aquaculture farms, processing plants, packing sheds, fish markets, tourist angling premises, veterinary laboratories, road and rail freight depots and garbage depots. |
| Sensitivity | The proportion of affected individuals in the tested population that are correctly identified as positive by a diagnostic test (true positive rate). See also Specificity |
| Sentinel fish | Fish of known health status monitored for the purpose of detecting the presence of a specific disease agent. |
| Serotype | A subgroup of microorganisms identified by the antigens carried (as determined by a serology test). |
| Specificity | The proportion of nonaffected individuals in the tested population that are correctly identified as negative by a diagnostic test (true negative rate). See also Sensitivity |
| Surveillance | A systematic series of investigations of a given population of fish to detect the occurrence of disease for control purposes, and which may involve testing samples of a population. |
| Susceptible fish | Fish that can be infected with a particular disease. |
| Suspect fish | Fish that may have been exposed to an emergency disease such that its quarantine and intensive surveillance, but not pre-emptive slaughter, is warranted. or Fish not known to have been exposed to a disease agent but showing clinical signs requiring differential diagnosis. |
| Suspect premises or area | Temporary classification of premises or area containing suspect fish. After rapid resolution of the status of the suspect fish contained on it, a suspect premises is reclassified either as an infected premises (and appropriate disease-control measures taken) or as free from disease. The reason for the suspicion varies with the agent; however, it may involve clinical signs or increased mortality. |
| Tracing | The process of locating animals, persons or other items that may be implicated in the spread of disease, so that appropriate action can be taken. |
| Vaccination | Inoculation of healthy individuals with weakened or attenuated strains of disease-causing agents to provide protection from disease. |
| Vaccine | Modified strains of disease-causing agents that, when inoculated, stimulate an immune response and provide protection from disease. |
| Vector | A living organism that transmits an infectious agent from one host to another. A biological vector is one in which the infectious agent must develop or multiply before becoming infective to a recipient host. A mechanical vector is one that transmits an infectious agent from one host to another but is not essential to the life cycle of the agent. |
| Zoning | The process of defining disease-free and infected areas. |
Last reviewed:
27 Oct 2009
27 Oct 2009