Biosecurity Surveillance

HOT TOPIC: Biosecurity Surveillance strategy development

Biosecurity surveillance is the process of systematically collecting, analysing and interpreting information about the presence or absence of pests, diseases and unwanted organisms.

In plain language, biosecurity surveillance means looking for pests, diseases, animals, plants and other living things, which either don't belong in New Zealand, or which can cause problems for animals, plants or the environment – to find out whether they're already here - if they are, where exactly they are – and if they're not, to detect them early if they arrive.

Types of Biosecurity Surveillance Activities

Biosecurity Surveillance programmes can be designed in several ways. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand's programmes fall into three main groups.

Targeted Surveillance

Targeted surveillance programmes are designed to look for a specific organism (or sometimes a group of related organisms) in specified hosts or regions. Targeted surveillance can be designed as an ongoing programme (repeated surveys and monitoring over several years) or as a one-off survey.

Current targeted surveillance programmes:

• TSE Surveillance
• Avian Influenza Surveillance
• Fruit Fly surveillance
• Avocado Sunblotch Viroid surveillance
• Gypsy Moth surveillance
• National Invasive Ant Surveillance
• Surveillance for exotic diseases of honey bees
• Surveillance for arboviruses and arbovirus vectors
• Non-indigenous marine species

Pathway Surveillance

Pathway surveillance programmes target high risk sites to look for pests, diseases and risk organisms. The site is visited at a specified frequency, and surveillance is conducted for any new pests, diseases or risk organisms present at that site.

Current pathway surveillance programmes:

• High Risk Site Surveillance (focusing on pests of importance to forestry)
• Surveillance for marine pests

Passive Surveillance

Passive surveillance means keeping watch for unwanted pests and diseases. It involves investigating notifications of suspected unwanted pests and diseases, and monitoring and analysing trends in information relating to pests and diseases. Everyone can do their part by being aware of potential threats and notifying us of anything unusual.

Passive surveillance includes:

• Lists of notifiable pests, diseases and unwanted organisms
• The Pest and Diseases Hotline (0800 80 99 66)
• Monitoring of animal disease data and syndromes submitted to veterinary laboratories
• Incursion Investigators, who investigate reports to the Pest and Diseases Hotline
• Everyone in New Zealand being watchful

Why undertake Biosecurity Surveillance?

We undertake biosecurity surveillance for a lot of important reasons. Here are some of the main ones:

• Protecting our natural environment, farms, coasts, oceans, rivers and forests, and the health of humans, plants and animals
• Early detection of emerging new diseases and pests, or the entry of pests, diseases or other unwanted organisms from overseas
• Determining which diseases, pests or unwanted organisms are present in New Zealand and describing where they are found, so that spread can be monitored
• Demonstrating to our trading partners that we are free of certain diseases and pests
• Providing information to disease and pest control or eradication campaigns, or exotic disease or pest responses
• Monitoring trends in pest or disease levels and identifying new or emerging threats

Collecting Biosecurity Surveillance Information

Biosecurity Surveillance requires collecting and sharing information. The way the information is collected can be simple, such as a farmer reporting sick animals or diseased crops to our Pest and Disease Hotline, or complex, such as conducting remote sensing surveys for sick trees using satellite technology.

Here are some examples of how Biosecurity Surveillance information can be collected:

• Investigating reports of pests and diseases from members of the public, primary producers, professionals in animal or plant health, and scientists
• Monitoring trends in routinely collected information (such as the number of dead birds found in parks)
• Taking samples from plants, animals or products that have been selected at random to be representative of their group, to look for a particular pest or disease
• Taking samples from plants, animals or products that have been selected because they are a "high risk" group, to look for a particular pest or disease
• Taking samples from "sentinel" plants or animals, to look for a particular pest or disease
• Monitoring high-risk locations, to look for any new pest or disease
• Monitoring high-risk pathways, to look for any new pest or disease or a particular pest or disease.

Investigating, monitoring and taking samples might include things like: looking for the target pest or disease (visually inspecting), counting, photographing, measuring and weighing, collecting samples such as blood or insects for testing, collecting and reviewing records or other methods of investigation.

Reference Materials and Reviews

At present, we are developing a Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy.  It will set a vision for how biosecurity surveillance in New Zealand will be conducted in 2020, and lists goals to achieve to ensure that the vision becomes real. More information is available at Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy.

Tiakina Aotearoa (Protect New Zealand), New Zealand's Biosecurity Strategy (2003) has goals for biosecurity surveillance.  The Biosecurity Strategy is a foundation document for the Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy.

A Review of Biosecurity Surveillance was undertaken by Prime Consulting International in 2002.  This review fed into the Biosecurity Strategy for New Zealand, and its recommendations have also been considered in developing the Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy. Further information is available under An Independant Review of New Zealand's Biosecurity Surveillance System

Page last updated: 30 October 2009