Editorial - Biosecurity surveillance - a key contributor to achieving biosecurity outcomes
Katherine Clift
MAF Biosecurity New Zealand's (MAFBNZ's) mission is to protect New Zealand's natural advantage by making timely and informed biosecurity risk management decisions and implementing them. Biosecurity surveillance – the collection, collation, analysis, interpretation and timely dissemination of information on the presence, distribution or prevalence of pests and diseases – is a vital part of the biosecurity system.
This is the first edition of Biosecurity to focus on surveillance and in this issue you will find numerous examples of how surveillance is helping achieve MAFBNZ's mission.
Surveillance provides timely and accurate information to support biosecurity decision making, and effective surveillance is essential for early detection of pests and diseases within New Zealand.
In addition, surveillance undertaken as part of an incursion response informs decisions about managing the incursion – including the potential for eradication. The painted apple moth incursion is a recent example of a successful eradication campaign, with the pest declared eradicated in 2006. Targeted surveillance has recently finished, but ongoing surveillance will be provided through our high-risk site surveillance programme.
New Zealand's plants and animals are recognised internationally as being free of many significant pests and diseases. This status is a major asset and significantly contributes to our export trade in primary products. Surveillance programmes enable us to satisfy international requirements and provide trading partners with confidence in our disease and pest assurances. New Zealand's high health status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy was recently recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which has granted negligible risk status to New Zealand. Information on our transmissible spongiform encephalopathy surveillance programmes features on page 8.
The introduction of the OIE's World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) during 2006 has emphasised the importance of timely and accurate information on animal diseases. This is coupled with a web-based interface (WAHID) that provides access to contributing countries' animal health data.
Surveillance also contributes to pest management by identifying the biodiversity and distribution of pests and diseases within New Zealand so that effective intervention can be undertaken to mitigate their impacts. The marine baseline surveys which appear on page 6 are providing extremely valuable information on the biodiversity of New Zealand's marine environment. They have resulted in the identification of a large number of previously unrecorded organisms, both native and non-indigenous, some of which are new to science.
Surveillance will play an increasing role in detection and monitoring so that we can effectively mitigate risks to New Zealand. The Pacific ant initiatives featured on page 4 show how a coordinated regional approach to biosecurity issues can have real benefits both for our Pacific neighbours and for managing New Zealand's risk of invasive ant incursions.
Prime Consulting's International Review (2002) of New Zealand's Biosecurity Surveillance System and the New Zealand Biosecurity Strategy (2003) both identified a number of key recommendations for improving New Zealand's surveillance system.
Implementation of these recommendations has been delayed, but, to address this, and in recognition of the fundamental importance of surveillance to meeting MAFBNZ's objectives, a dedicated Biosecurity Surveillance Group has been established. A number of the members of this group have been recently appointed and you can find their profiles within these pages. This group has responsibility for post-border surveillance across the animal, environment, marine and plant sectors.
This group is leading the development of a national Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy to enable us to meet the expectations of the New Zealand Biosecurity Strategy and set the direction for future biosecurity surveillance activities. See page 16 for more information on this exciting project.
Surveillance is acquiring a heightened profile and importance both within New Zealand and overseas. The continued spread of avian influenza worldwide and unprecedented impacts of mountain pine beetle in British Columbia are just a couple of examples of the issues we face. New pests and diseases are continuing to emerge and rapid changes are occurring in the distribution and impact of the ones we already know about. This year at the Animal Health Quadrilateral Group meeting (Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada), the establishment of a surveillance working group was endorsed. This group will promote information exchange and provide opportunities for coordinating activities and research.
We are not able to resource targeted surveillance programmes for all the potential disease and pest threats New Zealand faces. Passive surveillance – reporting of suspected pests and diseases by the public – remains an important part of our surveillance activities. "Getting boaties, divers and swimmers on the biosecurity lookout" on page 7 recognises the vital contribution that people can make to marine surveillance.
While MAFBNZ leads our biosecurity defences, all New Zealanders are ultimately responsible for biosecurity and protecting what is dear to us.
Katherine Clift
Biosecurity Surveillance Manager
MAF Biosecurity New Zealand
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Page last updated: 30 April 2008