The first veterinary medicine program in South Australia was recently developed at the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (SAVS), The University of Adelaide. An objective of the school is to foster strong diagnostics, research and training opportunities in aquatic health to support the local and national aquaculture industry. As such, a fully equipped veterinary diagnostic laboratory and a state of the art Marine Biosecurity facility are being completed. A cross-disciplinary team of 10 veterinary academics including diagnostic, pathology, immunology and production experts comprise the Aquatic Special Interest Group (AquaSIG) at SAVS.
As those with the capacity to support the industry, AquaSIG members and local industry/government alike will benefit from further training opportunities in aquatic disease surveillance. AquaSIG members, field veterinarians, government scientists and aquaculturist all identified epidemiological concepts and practices to sample and measure disease in large aquatic populations as priorities. Proper surveillance methodology is paramount to the prevention and control of aquatic diseases.
A 3-day workshop on aquaculture epidemiology is offered sporadically by the University of Tasmania. Sending a suitable number of SA representatives to this course would be cost prohibitive. The organisation of a workshop locally would be cost-effective and would reach a larger audience beyond AquaSIG including: Biosecurity SA veterinarians (responsible for regulatory aquatic disease surveillance); graduate students and research colleagues from SARDI and other local universities; and high-level industry managers. The South Australia community responsible for aquatic health would therefore benefit and support the organisation of a workshop tailored to the region’s specific needs.