What is quarantine and why do we have it?

Quarantine examines all pets coming to
Australia: we need to make sure we
don't introduce diseases that could
damage our livestock, pets and native
wildlife.

What's quarantine?

Quarantine is any work designed to keep out living things that do not belong in a particular place.

We can create a quarantine zone whenever we decide to draw a real or imaginary boundary around a place, and keep out anything we think should not be there.

You could turn your school (or bedroom!) into a quarantine zone, if you decided for some reason to stop certain goods from coming in.

In Australia, we have made a quarantine zone of our entire country.

That means certain things are not allowed in, and others must be inspected or treated before they can come in.

Why we have quarantine

Australia has quarantine measures to protect the health and well being of the plants, animals, people and other organisms that live here.

Quarantine is very important to Australia.

• Because it's an island, Australia has evolved in isolation. That's the reason our plants and animals are so unique. Quarantine protects our unique environment by keeping out weeds, animals, insects, diseases and other organisms that could destroy, disrupt or compete with native species.
• Quarantine protects the animals and plants we use for food. We enjoy diversity and healthy food in Australia that helps us live well. Food exports to other parts of the world are important for our economy.
• Australia has great biodiversity. Biodiversity means a variety of plants, animals and other organisms. Biodiversity comes from Australia's isolation, vast undisturbed wilderness areas, climatic range and other factors. Quarantine helps protect diversity by keeping outside organisms from disrupting native ecosystems.

Live plants coming to Australia are put
in quarantine for a period, to observe
for any pests or diseases that could
spread to other plants.

Who's job?

In Australia, quarantine is the job of government agencies, including the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, and health authorities in the case of human diseases.

But we all have a role to play—by knowing and following quarantine rules when we travel, and by showing respect for all the living things that make up our environment.

Balancing act

An ecosystem is a system of living things.

Ecosystems may evolve naturally over many millions of years, like rainforests. Farms, parks and gardens are examples of ecosystems made by humans.

Quarantine helps to protect our country's ecosystems—both natural and man-made—by stopping new species from coming in to upset the balance.

Activity

Using an atlas, make a list of all the countries you can find that are also islands. Don’t forget to include Australia. For each country, how many animals can you name that are unique to that country?

People and quarantine

People now travel faster, more easily and more often than at any other time in human history. That means human diseases can spread quickly around the globe.

But we can't stop people from travelling. So we rely more on medical treatment, rather than quarantine, to stop the spread or effects of contagious disease of humans. Medical treatments include antibiotics for bacterial infectious diseases, and vaccines to stop the spread of contagious diseases like small pox and measles.

Diseases that can be spread by insects are dealt with by quarantine. For example, malaria can only be spread by a certain species of mosquito, so Quarantine works to ensure that species of mosquito does not get into Australia.

Word wise

Exotic means from another place. A rabbit is exotic to Australia because rabbits did not exist here naturally, but were brought here by people on ships.

An organism is any living thing. That includes microscopic bacteria and fungi as well as the plants and animals we can see. Quarantine's job is to keep out potentially harmful organisms. That includes organisms you may not even see—such as those in the fruit you carry in your back pack! This is why any fresh fruit and vegetables you may be carrying on a trip back from overseas are not allowed into Australia.

 

Plant quarantine protects Australia's
crops, gardens and native plants.

 

Did you know... 

The word quarantine comes from the Italian 'quaranti giorni', meaning '40 days'. When the bubonic plague swept through Europe in the 14th century, the government of Venice required ships to anchor away from the city for 40 days before they could unload passengers or cargo.

The authorities thought 40 days would be enough time for any disease to be identified and either treated or pass through its normal course. All ships under quarantine had to fly a yellow flag.

 

Activity

Create a biodiversity exhibition. On separate bits of paper, have each student write down all the native Australian plants and animals they can think of. Put all bits of paper in a hat. Have each student draw a name; if somebody already has that name, draw again. On a large sheet of paper, produce a profile of the plant or animal you've drawn. It may include drawings, life cycles, food, habitat, predators, poems, newspaper articles, dreamtime stories, or anything you want. Display all on a wall around a map of Australia that marks out the distribution of each. (An alternative is to turn your project into a scrapbook that's copied for each class member to read and keep.)