Enhancing passive surveillance in NSW Project and Survey

About the enhancing passive surveillance in NSW Project

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is leading a project to better understand Government (District) Veterinarians (DVs) and Private Veterinary Practitioners (PVPs) thoughts and actions around livestock disease surveillance, emergency animal disease (EAD inclusion based on clinical signs/examination and diagnostics, and how current education and training opportunities may be impacting this. This project aims to boost passive surveillance capacity and capabilities for EADs in NSW using a syndromic and diagnostic approach. This will increase the evidence base for the absence (or presence and prevalence) of EADs in NSW and Australia and the sensitivity of early detection of EADs in NSW terrestrial livestock.

The outcomes of the broader project will be used to develop a framework to support PVPs and DVs to continue increasing awareness, exclusion investigations, sampling and testing of cases with clinical syndromes consistent with priority EADs for Australia.

NSW DPI has partnered with Charles Sturt University (CSU) for the final stage of the project. This last stage of the project, a final online survey seeks to understand if there has been any lasting shifts in EAD awareness and practice change leading to improved passive surveillance confidence and capability for those vets working with livestock in NSW.

For more information please view the Project Information Site and Participant Information Sheet  

About the enhancing passive surveillance in NSW Survey

All NSW Private and Government Veterinarians are invited to participate in the survey to assist DPI understand:

• current levels of EAD awareness,
• livestock disease investigation decision-making process and practices,  
• barriers that may limit your field capabilities,  
• the role of biosecurity in preventive veterinary care,  
• whether recent education and training activities for private and government veterinarians and para-veterinarians have helped boost EAD awareness, confidence and capability and how, and using the survey inputs,
• how DPI can better support veterinarians through developing locally relevant, targeted learning opportunities for ongoing support where it’s needed most.  

Please note that to participate in the research you must be over 18 years old and be a practising veterinarian in NSW.

The Confidential Survey will take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete. Click here to take the Survey (Closes 16 June 2024)

The survey has received human ethics approval from CSU (H24075).