A practical stakeholder-focused approach for assessing the biosecurity system in Pacific Island countries.

Aims: To develop a structured process for a transparent, efficient, high-level review of a low-resource biosecurity system (limited by physical infrastructure, financial, and human resources), in order to identify and prioritise key areas for future focus which could then lead to interventions, tailored by country, to improve the system. A key requirement was that the approach developed was culturally sensitive and respectful to Pasifika people within the country.

Methods: Animal health and biosecurity systems need to be urgently strengthened by Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) if they are to respond to current and future threats.

Avian influenza viruses in New Zealand wild birds, with an emphasis on subtypes H5 and H7: Their distinctive epidemiology and genomic properties.

The rapid spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) viruses in Southeast Asia in 2004 prompted the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries to expand its avian influenza surveillance in wild birds. A total of 18,693 birds were sampled between 2004 and 2020, including migratory shorebirds (in 2004-2009), other coastal species (in 2009-2010), and resident waterfowl (in 2004-2020). No avian influenza viruses (AIVs) were isolated from cloacal or oropharyngeal samples from migratory shorebirds or resident coastal species.

Draft genomes of isolated from honeybee colonies () in Fiji.

Here, we report draft genomic sequences from three isolates, the causative agent of American Foulbrood (AFB), obtained from honeybee colonies of in Fiji, which allow both enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus and multilocus sequence typing genotypes to be elucidated for Fijian AFB.

Modelling the field personnel resources to control foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in New Zealand.

The objective of the study was to simulate New Zealand's foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) operational plan to determine personnel requirements for an FMD response and understand how the numbers of front-line staff available could affect the size and duration of FMD outbreaks, when using stamping-out (SO) measures with or without vaccination. The model utilized a national dataset of all known livestock farms. Each simulation randomly seeded infection into a single farm.

Investigations into a trigger-based approach for initiating emergency vaccination to augment stamping out of foot-and-mouth disease in New Zealand: a simulation study.

Aims: To investigate an adaptive management approach to the deployment of emergency vaccination as an additional measure to stamping out (SO) during simulated outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in New Zealand.

Methods: A simulation modelling (n=6000 simulations) approach was used. The study population comprised all known farms in New Zealand with FMD-susceptible livestock.