CONTENTS National BJD Financial and Non-Financial Assistance Package Beef Only - A New Assurance Category for BJD National Dairy Assurance Score Guidelines for Managing BJD in Cattle Saleyards BJD Evaluation Reports Beef Cattle Trade Assurance Scheme BJD Testing BJD Zoning in Australia BJD Frequently Asked Questions Coordinators in Your State or Territory Bovine Johne's Disease in Australia

Why is BJD a problem?

BJD is a debilitating disease that can have severe economic effects if it is left uncontrolled and allowed to build up in herds or areas. Infected animals often do not show signs until late in life and can be spreading the bacteria in their faeces. Fortunately most of Australia has little or no BJD.

What is the history of BJD in Australia?

BJD was first recorded in Australian cattle over 70 years ago. It now occurs in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia. Approximately 1150 cattle herds are officially classified as infected in south-east Australia.

It is most common in dairy herds, however the disease also occurs in beef cattle, goats and alpacas. The first case was detected in deer in 1999.

Australia is in the fortunate position of having relatively little BJD compared with most developed agricultural countries. To prevent BJD from spreading further, zoning for BJD was introduced in 1999. Zoning involves placing different regions of a country into a certain 'zone' according to the region's level of disease risk and control. Restrictions are then placed on the movement of animals between zones and animals have to meet certain standards for movement.

Western Australia was declared a BJD Free Zone in August 1999. Queensland and the Northern Territory have traditionally also been free of the disease and were declared Protected Zones, along with a large part of New South Wales. Protected status has been extended to most of NSW and northern pastoral areas of South Australia. Southern South Australia, Victoria and parts of NSW are Control Zones. The main island of Tasmania is currently a Residual Zone, but Flinders Island and the rest of the Furneaux group are a Protected Zone.

Higher status zones protect their favourable status by placing controls on animals moving from lower status zones and by dealing with incursions or existing infection. The minimum standard now requires some level of herd assessment, rather than a declaration and a test of the individual animals to be moved. Herd assessment may be by testing or by compliance with a biosecurity standard such as Beef Only.

Development of a national BJD program

In 1998, Animal Health Australia commissioned a discussion paper on the future of Johne's disease control in the Australian cattle industries. There was general agreement that a detailed evaluation of current programs was necessary in the first instance.

Funded by the cattle industries, the evaluation looked at ten priority areas, including surveillance methods for BJD in cattle, the effectiveness of the Cattle Market Assurance Program (CattleMAP) and testing methods for BJD in cattle.

The former National Bovine Johne's Disease Advisory Committee (comprising members from the Cattle Council of Australia, the Australian Lot Feeders' Association, the Australian Dairy Farmers' Federation and governments) circulated the outcomes of the evaluation to stakeholders in May 2001 to determine recommendations for future strategies to address bovine Johne's disease in Australia.

A national meeting was held in September 2001 to progress the development of a national BJD approach. Since then a draft national plan has been developed by the cattle industries and governments which was widely circulated for comment and in June 2003 a meeting was held with the industries and governments where the "National Approach to Bovine Johne's Disease in Australia" was endorsed as a means to facilitate consistent and complementary programs across the affected livestock industries and jurisdictions. This national approach for BJD has been reviewed and updated regularly with new strategies such as the National Dairy BJD Assurance Score, Beef Only and the National BJD Financial and Non-Financial Assistance Package.

Further Information

Information Pages:

• National BJD Financial and Non-Financial Assistance Package
• Beef Only - Trialling a New Assurance Category for BJD
• National Dairy BJD Assurance Score
  
• Guidelines for Managing BJD in Cattle Saleyards
• Why Have a National Approach to BJD?
• BJD Frequently Asked Questions
  
• Beef Cattle Trade Assurance Scheme
• BJD Testing
• BJD Zoning in Australia
• Distribution of BJD Infected Herds in Australia (20 KB)

Reports and Other Documents:

• Epidemology and Pathogenesis of Johne's Didease in Cattle (1,116 KB)
  
• National Animal Health Statement for BJD (130 KB)
  
• Standard Definitions and Rules for Cattle - 2003 (261 KB)
  
• National Bovine Johne's Disease Strategic Plan - July 2006 (551 KB)
• BJD Risk Assessment Protocol for Beef Cattle Herds (667 KB)
  
• Financial and Non-Financial Assistance Measures for Owners of Beef Cattle Herds Infected with BJD (1,466 KB)
  
• BJD Evaluation Reports

Page Updated: 4 January 2006