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Country Handle with Care - Costa and dirtgirl Tackle Biosecurity

Costa and dirtgirl Tackle Biosecurity

ABC TV eco-warriors dirtgirl, scrapboy and Costa the Garden Gnome, along with some of our Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS) officers get together in Country - Handle with Care, a new seven episode video series, as they travel through northern Australia from Cardwell to Torres Strait and across to the Kimberley.

Northern biosecurity

Northern Australia’s vast, sparsely populated 10,000 kilometre coastline is the frontline for many high-risk animal and plant pests and diseases, particularly Torres Strait, whose northern islands are only a few kilometres from Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Biosecurity risks can reach Australia through the movement of people and goods by sea and air, through traditional trade between PNG and Torres Strait, and by natural pathways such as wind, tide and animal migration. Some serious pests and diseases are being managed in Torres Strait that have not reached the Australian mainland.

Map of NAQS zones

​The Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy program operates along Australia's northern coastline from Broome in the west to Cairns in the East. This includes the Torres Strait, but excludes the metropolitan areas of Darwin and Cairns.

The following map highlights the areas of primary interest to NAQS surveillance and border management activity.

Pre-arrival report for vessels 7 metres or longer travelling from certain areas in Torres Strait

​Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, March 2023

This form is to be used by a vessel that is 7 metres or longer, and is on, or intends to make a voyage that arrives at, a place in Australian territory from either the Torres Strait protected zone or the Torres Strait permanent biosecurity monitoring zone.

Toxoplasmosis

Publication details

​​Johnson AM and Munday BL, 1987

The Australian standard diagnostic techniques (ASDT) for toxoplasmosis identifies and describes laboratory methods that assist in detecting and diagnosing toxoplasmosis in susceptible domestic animals.

Selenium nutrition

Publication details

​​Paynter DI, Halpin CG and Caple IW, 1987

The Australian standard diagnostic techniques (ASDT) for selenium nutrition describes laboratory methods that assist in determining blood selenium level concerning selenium toxicity in susceptible animals.