The BioSIRT log (BLog) September 2009

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Collaboration

Swine Influenza (SIV) was detected in a piggery near Dalby, Queensland on the 25th of August.  The SIV template that had recently been put to use in Dunedoo in NSW was uploaded ready for use.

An outbreak of Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) was reported in Tasmania late August.  A BioSIRT National Coordination Team (NCT) member arrived at the Local Control Centre (LCC) in Hobart to assist with the emergency response.  Tasmania are now the third jurisdiction using BioSIRT for an emergency response.

A Surveillance Reference Group meeting was held on 10 August 2009.  BioSIRTfs Proof of Concept model for fruit fly surveillance is now complete.  Debra Riddell gave a presentation on BioSIRT and led discussion on its role in routine surveillance.

Paul Pheloung (Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer) and Debra Riddell (National BioSIRT Manager) attended a Plant Biosecurity CRC PDA workshop held at the Australian National University (ANU).

Members of the NCT visited the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong to discuss Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) integration as part of the Sample Tracking and Reporting System (STARS) project.  The STARS project has been approved under the Australian Biosecurity Intelligence Network (ABIN).  It is currently starting Phase II of the project.

The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) template was demonstrated to stakeholders including representatives from the Animal Health Committee and Animal Health Australiafs (AHA) CEO.   A "mock" Control Centre was set]up to simulate an FMD emergency response situation.  The scenario involved several forward and backward traces.  The demonstration was a beneficial exercise in increasing understanding of BioSIRT's operational capacity and provided an opportunity for experts to provide valuable feedback.

Consistency

The Standards Working Group for generic templates is currently finalising a template for Asian Green Mussel (AGM) (Perna viridis).  It is a marine pest with a vivid emerald green shell covering and grows to about 8-16 cm long.  It has a wavy posterior and a large kidney-shaped abductor muscle which is diagnostic of the species.

The species is native to South East Asia.  It’s found on expanses of Australia’s northern coastline.

AGM is transported in ship ballast water, on vessel hulls, internal seawater systems, and on aquaculture equipment where it forms dense populations (up to 35, 000 individuals per square metre).  The mussel can spread rapidly because of its fast growth and its ability to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions. And it may also have no local predators.

The control of AGM depends on the vigilance of slipway operators, vessel inspectors and vessel owners to thoroughly check and clean vessel hulls and niche areas such as internal seawater systems.

AVG Emergency Response in Tasmania

Abalone from a Tasmanian abalone processor were diagnosed with Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) in August.  A response was mounted by DPIPWE Tasmania with the Control Centre established in Hobart.  The response includes tracing movements on and off the infected premises and comprehensive surveillance of abalone processors in the area.  Sample processing is occurring at the DPIPWE laboratory at Launceston.  The AVG template was set up in BioSIRT to record all operational activities, including visits to premises, observations and sampling for diagnosis.  Local staff were provided induction training for the AVG workspace in BioSIRT.  If required, the AVG workspace also includes the capacity to deal with wild fisheries, commercial vessels and abalone farms.  The abalone industry worth over $100 million to Tasmania annually.

The Application

Content for Version 2.0 (V2) was finalised during the month of August.  Testing of V2 is currently being performed by all jurisdictions.  As well as the completion of all outstanding bugs, V2 also includes the following Statements of Work (SOWs):

• SOW 3: Minor enhancements – as agreed by National BioSIRT Development Committee (NBDC) members.
  
• SOW 4: Reporting Tasks – to standardise reports and streamline the development of reports by creating simplified reporting views, developing exemplar reports and running a reporting workshop.
  
• SOW 5: Performance Tuning – to create a standardised suite of tests that can be used to benchmark BioSIRT application performance across different environments.

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Training

The next scheduled National Administrator Training will be held at the NSW DPI offices in Cronulla, Sydney on 15-17 September 2009.

BioSIRT Q & A

Q. In order to use BioSIRT each jurisdiction needs to integrate it with local IT and GIS systems.  Where are the jurisdictions up to in this process?

A. Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia have all advised the NCT that the necessary local integration has been completed. Tasmania have completed their integration but have not yet advised their readiness to use BioSIRT as they have yet to complete testing.

Q. How long would it take to configure BioSIRT in the event of an animal or plant health emergency response?

A. A standard function exists to import a BioSIRT template and each template includes instructions for localisation. The time to import and localise a template is approx. 15 mins. In the event of an emergency response for a disease or pest that does not have a preprepared template, the closest fit from the available templates for any particular biosecurity emergency response is selected, imported and revised to suit. This process takes a little longer (approx. 1 hour or less).

Q. Is BioSIRT data entry difficult?

A. The creation of templates allows BioSIRT to only include the information that is necessary to complete the biosecurity activity. Additionally, data input screens can be configured for particular users and roles within the biosecurity team. This allows for simplification of the user interface tailored to the job at hand. The planned introduction of the use of PDAs (or other portable field devices) will further simplify data entry mechanisms.

Q. How can I get access to BioSIRT?

A. BioSIRT is installed within the jurisdictions internal IT environment; access is controlled by the jurisdiction. The NCT provide a test environment for the delivery of updates and a collaboration environment for the development of national templates. Terms and conditions for additional licenses is currently being finalised by the BioSIRT Governance Group.

Training Feedback

Training is an essential component in BioSIRT's strategy.  The NCT is committed to providing training to staff from all jurisdictions.  The results below were compiled from feedback forms completed by 48 attendees of User Training sessions held this year in Darwin (17 March), Orange (3, 6,7,& 8 April), and Brisbane (19 May).