Biology HSC Course- Search for Better Health- Critical Response Essay “Quarantine in Australia has been highly effective in preventing the spread of disease and exotic plants or animals into or across this country” Introduction As Australia is isolated by oceans, it has been able to avoid the spread of disease very well. However as barriers between nations become less and trade and travel increase, the problem of preventing the spread of disease increases. The spread of animal and plant disease in Australia costs Australia both economically and environmentally. Some diseases have costed Australia Billions. An example of plant disease quarantine in Australia is Black Sigatoka. An example of animal disease quarantine in Australia is the Exotic Fruit Flies. Although Australia’s Quarantine still needs to improve, it has become effective through the use of many different quarantine methods Role of Quarantine in Australia The role of quarantine in Australia is to prevent disease, animals and plants from spreading into and across the country. Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is the organisation in charge of enforcing quarantine legislation. They work under the Department of Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry. Australia uses a variety of methods to deal with pests and disease. Some of these include: • Luggage inspection using x-ray machines • Sniffer dogs • Disposal bins • Genetic engineering • Chemical control • Fines and border checks • Public awareness Plant Quarantine When plants and plant products come into Australia they are examined by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service for diseases and pathogens. They also check soil on machinery, shoe etc. for pathogens. There is a list of plants and plant... ... middle of paper ... ...aks of Fruit Flies since 1995. Also from that outbreak an effective eradication method developed. Overall Effectiveness of Quarantine in Australia Although Australia has had outbreaks in the diseases mentioned above, they have been successfully eradicated. A comparative example of another country’s quarantine is Africa where there are outbreaks of Fruit Flies and Black Sigatoka. These diseases are out of control and are damaging the economics of Africa’s agricultural industry. This indicates that Australia has effective quarantine methods. The statement: “Quarantine in Australia has been highly effective in preventing the spread of disease and exotic plants or animals into or across this country” is mostly true as Australia has been fairly effective in the quarantine of plants and animals; however there is still need for improvement as there have been outbreaks.
Foreign plants which turn into weeds are continuously being introduced to Australia both accidentally and intentionally. They can cause extreme damage to Australia’s environment, as they threaten the survival of many native plants. They are successful in growing as they - usually grow faster than native plants competing for nutrients, water, space etc, they survive better as they do not have the pests and diseases that would normally control them in their natural habitats, they take over the native plants that the native animals use for shelter, food and nesting. The Cobblers peg (Bidens pilosa) also known as farmers friend, Spanish needle and beggars tick was introduced from South America and has become a weed in Australia. Individual flowers are yellow with white petals and do not last for very long, eventually turning into seeds.
In the 1880's a harmful fungus known as blight, inhabited the United States from imported Japanese chestnut trees. Blight quickly spread, killing chestnuts and chinquapins, which is another species of chestnut that produces 1 nut per bur. In 1904, Chestnut blight appeared infecting trees in New York City and spread at a rate of 20-50 miles per year. By 1906, W.A. Murrill reported that this disease is known to occur in New Jersey, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia. In 1912, the Planet Quarantine Act was passed to reduce the chances of plant deterioration or devastation prevention. Chestnut Blight or Chestnut Bark Disease was originally found in 1904 and within 50 years, it spread across the eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia and as far west as the edge of Michigan. By 1950, the American chestnut was essentially eliminated as a forest tree. In 1972, importation from Italy gave a biological control in which a virus helped prevent the blight f...
... Australia's workforce, infrastructure, schools, hospitals & healthcare, helping families and low income earners, and investment into regional areas.
Eradication is the concept that a disease is entirely eliminated in a region. (Carter n.d.) Only one infectious disease to date, smallpox, has been categorized as eradicated worldwide (CDC 2010). How did this eradication occur? From 1958 to 1965 all fifty states enacted legislation to mandate school age children receive the small pox vaccine (College of Philadelphia). Consequently, by 1971, no small pox cases had been reported in the United States for 20 years. The last known smallpox case in the world was in Somalia in 1977 (CDC 2010). Even though small pox is the only listed eradicated disease, the Carter Foundation has listed six other diseases as having the potential to be eradicated: lymphatic filariasis (Elephantiasis), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and pork tapeworm. In addition to these previous listed diseases are to date the following diseases which are considered preventable by vaccination: chicken pox, diphtheria, Haemohphilus Influenza type B, Hepatitis A and B, HPV, Influenza, Measles, Meningococcal Disease, Mumps, Pertusis, Pneumonia, Polio, Rotavirus, Rubella, Shingles, Smallpox, Tetanus, Yellow Fever, and STDs (Carter n.d.).
Australia is one of the healthiest countries in the world. With the remarkable availability of best facilities in the world in
... that train and educate people about certain diseases. Through education, citizens will know how to respond on special scenario, such as in the case of being infected with Typhoid fever, even without the immediate assistance from healthcare representatives. Likewise, people will know the signs of Typhoid fever which will help them know the important steps to avoid the worsening of their conditions. Further, the availability of emergency health providers will help in preventing the worsening of health conditions if in any case, contamination has already occurred. Also, the local government agencies that monitor the water lines are a big help in preventing bioterrorism on water supplies. If these agencies will miss cleaning the pipelines or the water itself, there’s a big chance for bioterrorism to take place. Thus, local agencies should be consistent with their jobs.
Many of these diseases originate from animal populations. Humans’ interaction with the environment, and animals contribute to the rate and prevalence of disease. All three areas are interconnected. One Health is a concept that views human, animal, and environmental health as one area of health. The three entities, when separated can hinder each other and delay progress. The opposite is also true. When public health officials recognize the correlation between human, animal, and environmental health, advancements and innovation can occur. Other public health issues are present in relation to spread of infectious disease between humans and animals. People must know how to cook animal products in order to kill pathogens. Many diseases are also transferred when humans disrupt ecosystems. These are areas where public health has the opportunity to make progress. The issues that infectious diseases cause occur across the globe. In addition, One Health concepts can be applied to populations all over the
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) helps keep the health of food in place and checks for any abnormalities in our foods (“Safety Inspections.”). Any food that is processed outside of the United States is sent to a certain port through which the USDA can inspect and clear these imports to make sure they are safe for consumer consumption. The Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) program is a program within the USDA that helps find and dispose of any inflected plants or animals (“Agriculture Quarantine Inspection.”). The AQI will analyze the risk this disease and possibly find a way to treat it. The trucks or aircraft used in the transportation of the infected product are also inspected to stop the spread of the disease. Governmental programs and services of this
"Ecology and Transmission." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 June 2012. Web. 01 May 2014. .
Many states and colonies across the globe issued detailed sets of directives to their residents on what exactly they should do if they come into contact with the illness. One such example is the directive issued by T.W.H. Holmes, the Secretary of the Victoria Board of Public Health in Australia. The directive details the symptoms, complications, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Something very common during the outbreak of any pandemic is the use of quarantines to separate the sick and the healthy. In fact, that is the first order for prevention of disease in T.W.H. Holme...
Market Line. India Country Profile: Pest Analysis. Data Monitor. 2012. The.
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.
The occurrence of infectious disease and epidemics has speckled the history of humanity since the first civilization established itself. Considering that a large population can help to foster infectious diseases, and humans share almost 300 communicable agents with animals, the outbreak of epidemics is inextricably intertwined with revol...
World Health Organization “Frequently Asked Questions on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR), March 24. (2003). World Health Organization . Retrieved March 29, 2004.
In Australia in the last ten years more then 137 known people have died and many more fallen very ill from contagious and infectious disease. Diseases such as diphtheria; tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps rubella and Haemophilus influenzae, This is a great tragedy considering all these diseases are easily preventable by immunisation.