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18 Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 83, No 1 & 2, January, February 2005

Training for the AustralianVeterinary Reserve

In late November 2004, nineteenveterinarians participated in the firsttraining course for members of theAustralian Veterinary Reserve (AVR) atthe CB Alexander Agricultural Collegeat Tocal, NSW.

The AVR program was establishedfollowing recommendations in theFrawley Review of Rural VeterinaryServices. Subsequent to its launch at theAustralian Veterinary AssociationConference in May 2004, our nation’s

veterinarians have demonstrated enormous interest in the program,with more than 1000 veterinarians applying to join.

The AVR training course delivered lectures and workshops ona range of subjects including responding to emergency diseaseoutbreaks, quarantine matters, record keeping, communications,workplace safety and sample collection. Particular emphasis wasplaced on aspects such as working with governments andlegislative compliance. The training, which was designed byAnimal Health Australia to meet Australian National TrainingAuthority standards, equipped the participants to be members ofField Surveillance Teams.

This initiative is another crucial step towards integrating thenational veterinary profession with government emergency animaldisease preparedness. It will significantly boost Australia’s capacityto respond to emergency animal disease incidents with trainedpersonnel at short notice.

The 19 veterinarians who have completed the training are nowmembers of the AVR. Selection of a further 81 veterinarians tookplace in January in preparation for AVR training throughout 2005.This will bring the total number of veterinarians trained for theAVR to 100.

Animal Health Quadrilateral Group meetingThe ‘Quads’ countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the

United States), met from 16 to 25 February, 2005 in Noosa,Australia. The Quads Group is founded on the principle that thefour countries working together can achieve better results than onecountry working individually. The meeting considered a range ofstrategic issues related to animal health, food safety andinternational trade. The event unfolded in two parts, with animalhealth issues considered in the first five days and food safety issuesin the last four days. There was also a joint session to discuss issuesof common concern.

The key animal health issues discussed included emergencymanagement, animal identification and traceability, animal welfare,emerging and re-emerging diseases, and bovine spongiformencephalopathy (BSE). Proposed changes to the InternationalTerrestrial Animal Health Standards were considered, particularlyregarding BSE and avian influenza. Aquatic animal health issuesalso received great attention. Meeting participants finallyconsidered the potential for Quads collaborative approaches tostrategic foresighting.

By Dr Gardner MurrayCommonwealth Chief

Veterinary Officer

World Watch

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