Redefined anthrax belt – what you need to know

Recent outbreaks of anthrax disease around Dirranbandi (Queensland) has brought local producers up to speed on what to look for, but a recent research publication ‘Redefining the Australian Anthrax Belt’ (Barro et al, 2016) indicates that it shouldn’t just be your immediate neighbours on the lookout.

The research paper suggests that the area suitable for an outbreak of anthrax extends in a large land area from north of Roma (Queensland), throughout the central western areas of New South Wales and Victoria and into the south-eastern corner of South Australia. Other areas of South Australia and Western Australia have been identified as ‘predicted areas’. While many of the redefined and/or predicted areas haven’t see anthrax for some time, the bacteria only needs to be ‘seeded’ in these areas for an outbreak to occur.

In this BeefConnect webinar presentation, Dr Jonathan Lee (Principal Veterinary Officer, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries), discusses how anthrax comes about, what to look out for, and how to prevent it. You can watch the full recording or use the playlist below to jump to the start of a particular section within the presentation. 58:23 published 17 August 2018 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of the Redefining the anthrax belt presentation (PDF, 3MB).

Full recording

Playlist

• Redefined anthrax belt – are you in it and what you need to know
• Causative agent
• Status
• History and distribution
• Susceptible species
• Transmission
• Clinical disease
• Post-mortem signs
• The typical presentation signs of anthrax
• Diagnosis
• Cutaneous disease in humans
• Prevention
• Q & A session #1
• Controls
• Q & A session #2
• Passive general surveillance
• Queensland veterinary laboratory submission program
• Q & A session #3
• Conclusion