Relationship to R&D plans and strategies
In the May 2000 Budget, the Federal Government announced its Building a National Approach to Animal and Plant Health program to maintain Australia’s status as a source of high quality agricultural produce with work on aquatic animal health to be funded via AFFA through the FRDC Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram. Following stakeholder consultations, seven projects focusing on the development of improved diagnostic methods for diseases of fish, crustaceans and molluscs were funded under this Subprogram. The Subprogram recently requested advice from aquatic animal health specialists in Australia on priority suggestions for the remaining uncommitted funds. The ‘Maintenance of reagent stocks for diagnosis of important diseases e.g. EHN’ was identified by this forum as one of a number of high priority issues and subsequently forwarded to the Subprogram. The Subprogram’s Steering Committee and Scientific Advisory Committee supported this and other suggestions because of their national significance. This application is made in response to this need.

Pragmatic need
The International Reference Laboratory for EHNV provides research and diagnostic referral services to fish health laboratories in Australia and other countries. Reagents have been supplied upon request for more than 10 years. Research on protocols for improved viral detection and differentiation from related viruses is ongoing, and has been published in high quality journals. These protocols are supplied, together with reference reagents, to any diagnostic laboratory upon request. As many of these original antibody reagents were prepared in 1989-1992, they are deemed likely to be near the end of their shelf life, or stocks of quality-controlled batches are almost exhausted. Furthermore, new protocols have recently been developed using modern tools of molecular biology (Marsh et al 2002 rapid differentiation of Australian, European and American ranaviruses based on variation in major capsid protein gene sequence. Mol.Cell. Probes 16:137-151). For routine use these require development of new reagents, for example standardized DNA solutions.

This project is an operation to replenish stocks of reagents for existing tests and to create stocks for the more newly developed tests and as such is a one-off request. In future we aim to meet costs by charging for supply of reagents, something that OIE Fish Diseases Commission has agreed may be necessary to support reference laboratory activities. Stocks of antibody reagents produced in this project are likely to be viable and sufficient for 15 years assuming freeze drying is successful and current levels of demand, but this will also be dependent on future demand, which is not easily predicted.