Wildlife Event Investigations Team
The national Wildlife Event Investigations Team (WEIT), established by the Animal Health Committee, ensures wildlife disease events of potential threat to biodiversity, national livestock productivity or trade, or public health are thoroughly investigated.
The WEIT program and its investigations has the support of the National Animal Health Surveillance Strategy Reference Group and is funded by Animal Health Australia (AHA) from livestock industry and government subscriptions.
The WEIT program is a strategic priority for boosting Australia’s general surveillance capacity and is an important post-border surveillance activity.
The WEIT comprises some or all of the following:
- Chief Veterinary Officer of affected state or territory
- Chief Veterinary Officer of Australian Government
- Australian Wildlife Health Network State Coordinator
- Australian Wildlife Health Network National Manager
- Chair of Sub-committee Animal Health Laboratory Standards
- Australian Registry of Wildlife Health representative
- Australian Government Department Environment Water Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) representative
- Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing representative
- Appropriate technical representative(s)
- Manager Disease Surveillance, Animal Health Australia.
How the program works
In the event of a significant syndrome or mortalities arising in wildlife (see criteria below) the WEIT is convened by the Chief Veterinary Officer of the affected State, or the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, and meets (in the first instance) by teleconference to consider all available information on the event.
Funding is available from AHA for primary event investigations following the development of a reasoned and costed proposal by the WEIT.
Primary investigations involve assessing and defining the risks of wildlife diseases and identifying the potential consequences for the public, livestock or wildlife. Subsequent investigations are subject to appropriate cost-sharing between relevant agencies.
Criteria for investigations
The following criteria are a guide to identifying wildlife events that may warrant a WEIT response:
- Mass or unexpected mortalities or morbidity
- Cases with known or suspected zoonotic potential
- Significant spatial and temporal patterns of morbidity or mortality
- Undiagnosed syndromes
- Suspect new or emerging diseases (based on trends or unusual events)
- Diseases with an expanding geographic or host range
- Diseases listed by DEWHA as key threatening processes (Psittacine Circoviral [beak and feather] disease and infection of amphibians with chytrid fungus)
- Potentially exotic disease events where World Organisation for Animal Health listed diseases are differential diagnoses;
- Suspect Notifiable Animal Diseases, for example diseases in feral animals.
Note: Where there is a genuine suspicion or confirmation of a notifiable animal disease, all persons have a legal responsibility to notify their state or territory animal health authority. The requirement to report notifiable diseases is contained in individual state and territory legislation.
Who to contact
The Chief Veterinary Officer of the affected jurisdiction is the authority for convening a WEIT. Notifications of significant syndromes or mortalities in wildlife, that meet the criteria for nationally supported special investigations, should be made by calling the:
EMERGENCY DISEASE WATCH HOTLINE – 1800 675 888
or
AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE HEALTH NETWORK
(02) 9932 4368 (Business hours)
(02) 9978 4579 (Business hours)
Ian Langstaff
Manager Disease Surveillance and WEIT Program Manager
Animal Health Australia
Phone: (02) 6203 3909
ilangstaff@animalhealthaustralia.com.au
Page updated: 4 September 2009