The BioSIRT log (BLog) October 2009

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Collaboration

The Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre (ABCRC) held an Invasive Animals Monitoring and Reporting workshop in Canberra on 9 September 2009.  The workshop was attended by representatives from the BioSIRT National Coordination Team (NCT), States and Territories, the Vertebrate Pest Committee and New Zealand's Biodiversity Data Inventory.  The aim of the workshop was to review the current indicators and protocols for monitoring and reporting of invasive animal populations at the national level and make recommendations for refinement.

Each state described their current process and current projects - some states are planning on using BioSIRT for their data capture (South Australia and Western Australia).  Marg Coonan-Jones from the NCT will be part of an information needs sub-group to develop national standards for data specifications, processes and attributes.

The Australian Biosecurity Intelligence Network (ABIN) Proof of Concept Proposals were approved in principle at the ABIN Board Meeting on 11 September 2009.  The proposals include an integrated BioSIRT Portal i.e. a BioSIRT instance hosted on the ABIN infrastructure.

Consistency

The templates for Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) were approved at the National BioSIRT Standards Committee (NBSC) meeting on 18 September.  They are available for national distribution on the BioSIRT National Reference Library.

A template for Huanglongbing (HLB) is currently undergoing peer review.  Huanglongbing, also known as Citrus Greening, is a highly destructive bacterial disease of citrus caused by infection with Candidatus Liberobacter spp.  The bacterium invades the tree's tissues, rendering them unproductive.

The disease is spread by psyllid insects and contaminated grafting material.  Diaphorina citri (Asian citrus psyllid) (pictured) is of most concern due to Asiafs proximity to Australia.  The psyllids feed on the underside of leaves and jump or fly short distance when disturbed.  They can be transported long distances by wind.

HLB affects all citrus cultivars, species and hybrids - sweet orange and mandarin are the most severely affected.  HLB is found India, Asia, South]East Asia (including Indonesia and The Philippines), the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa.

Symptoms seen include small leaves and yellowing of leaves, sparse foliage, severe twig dieback, and a blotchy mottle leaf appearance (pictured). Excessive fruit drop occurs and fruit appears small, lopsided, and remain green & bitter to taste.

HLB can initially be difficult to diagnose because it remains latent for approximately 2 years, before expressing itself.  Once a tree has been infected, it cannot be 'cured'.  Management relies on preventing its spread into uninfected areas, destruction of infected trees, psyllid vector control and quarantine of host plant imports.

Australia is presently free of the disease.  An outbreak of HLB would result in decreased citrus production and the economic value of Australia's citrus would decline.

Clarification - In the September BLog, it was stated that Asian Green Mussel (AGM) was "found on Australiafs Northern coastline".  Although there have been regular detections of AGM on vessels in Australia, it has not established itself in the natural environment.

Mapping Code

The NCT have recently developed the code for symbology type for an incident.  This code has been incorporated into the New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmanian instances for their recent Swine Influenza (SIV) and Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) outbreaks.

The status types have been coded to include the proposed changes to the definitions used during an emergency animal disease response as outlined in the draft AHC technical review group paper.

This code will shade premises on the status type and when zoomed out will display point symbology.  In future the code may be extended to symbolise on status value.

The Application

The NCT will be hosting a combined Reports/Resource Management Package (RMP) Workshop in conjunction with the upcoming face to face National BioSIRT Development Committee (NBDC) meeting on 8-10 December in Canberra.  Further information on this workshop will be provided in next month’s BLog.

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Training

There are 10 new BioSIRT Level 1 Administrators; 6 NSW, 1 QLD, 1 WA, 1 NT and 1 ACT; following training sessions held in Sydney on 15-17 September.  The National BioSIRT Manager, Debra Riddell gave User Training, whilst the National Senior Administrator, Peter Frecklington presented the Administrator Training (pictured) component.

...New Faces...

Marg Coonan-Jones

I have recently joined the National Coordination Team.

I have worked in the Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry for four years – nearly two years with Emergency Risk Management Unit and two years in the Bureau of Rural Sciences as the Corporate Data Manager where I specialised in data management, metadata and cartography/GIS.  I led the national mapping response during the equine influenza outbreak (aggregating state data for national requirements).

As a cartographer/GIS specialist I have a special interest in the spatial component of BioSIRT and its capabilities.  I’ve been developing the code and the true type fonts for agricultural / biosecurity incidents.

My family and I have been in the Canberra region for 12 years – the last military posting landed us here, we liked the lifestyle opportunities that the region offers so we stayed.

My role will be point-of-contact for a number of projects: locusts, invasive species, weeds and tramp ants plus support the spatial side of BioSIRT.  Until other positions are filled I will also be lead on the DAFF instance.   I look forward to meeting and working with many of you in the near future.

Training Feedback

Last issue, we presented the training feedback from User Training sessions held throughout the year to date.  The results for Administrator Training are illustrated below.  The feedback was received from 27 attendees of 2-day Administrator Training sessions held this year in Darwin (18-19 March), Brisbane (20-21 May), and Sydney (16-17 September) 2009.