APPENDIX I
ABBREVIATIONS, DEFINITIONS AND GLOSSARY

 

ABARE	Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics.
Animal Health Officers	Trained employees of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment who assists with the delivery of animal health programs. They work with the Departmental Veterinary Officers.
Autopsy	Post-mortem examination of an animal to identify any disease present.
Bacteria (singular - `bacterium')	Single-celled micro-organisms lacking distinct nuclei, a few species of which can cause disease.
BJD	Bovine Johne's disease.
Blood serum	The liquid component of blood in which salts, antibodies and other substances are dissolved and in which the cellular components (red and white blood cells) are carried.
Bovine	Adjective indicating to do with cattle.
Camilid	A group of species that includes alpacas and llamas.
Catchment Management Authority	Statutory bodies formed under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, with a responsibility to advise the government on land and water resource management, to oversee the preparation and implementation of regional catchment management strategies and to promote sustainable management.
Causal	Adjective indicating a relationship between two factors where changes in one factor cause changes in the other factor
Cell-mediated immune system	Part of an animal's immune system by which specialised cells (white blood cells and cells in the lymph system) destroy bacteria or other micro-organisms that have invaded the animal's body. In this way these cells help to prevent the establishment of infection.
Clinical signs	Observable signs of disease in a live animal, such as changed or damaged tissue, loss of weight or reduced vigour.
Commercial breeder	Farmer whose commercial enterprise is to produce and sell non-stud sheep for breeding purposes.
Contagious	Infectious diseases that are passed from one animal to another through direct or indirect contact with an infected animal.1Containment
Control of disease	At the community level - an organised effort on a regional, national, or greater basis to reduce incidence of, or losses, from a significant disease to a level that does not have a major impact on the general public or industry.2At the property level - management aimed at minimising the impact of the disease on the individual property.
Cost Benefit Analysis	A technique used to compare alternative courses of action by assigning dollar values to all benefits and costs associated with the actions.
CSIRO	Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
Culled	Removed from the flock by selective slaughter.
Decontaminate	Reduce the level of bacteria or other infective organisms (on pasture or in water) to a level where they are no longer able to cause infection of stock in contact with them.
Desiccation	Drying out.
Destocking	Removal of stock from a property.
DNRE	Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
DSE, dry sheep equivalent	This is the amount of fodder consumed by an average wether. It is a unit used to describe the carrying capacity of, or feeding pressure on, an area of land.
Ecologically Sustainable Development	Development that improves the total quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends.3Endemic
ENRC	Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
Epidemiology; epidemiological,	The study of how often different diseases occur in animals and why; adjective - to do with the epidemiology of a disease.
Eradication	An organised effort to eliminate a significant disease agent from an area so that no further outbreaks occur (unless it is reintroduced from outside) and so that specific immunisation or treatment programs are no longer needed.
ESD	Ecologically Sustainable Development.
Exclusion	Exclusion of a disease involves setting up barriers to the introduction of the disease organism to areas from which it is presently absent.
Exponentially	Growing ever more rapidly with time; with the growth rate determined by the number of individuals already present.
False negative	A test which diagnoses an animal as uninfected when it is actually infected.
False positive	A test which diagnoses an animal as infected when it is actually uninfected.
Fecundity	Capacity to produce offspring.
Gamma interferon	A chemical produced during a cell-mediated immune response to early infection by M. paratuberculosis - that is early in the development of OJD - and able to be used to detect early infection.
GATT	General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - generally also taken to refer to the international body established as part of the Bretton Woods Pacts of 1944 to regulate world trade after the second world war and implement this Agreement. It was superceded in 1994 by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which has a much wider and more powerful brief with respect to the regulation of trade.
Genotype	The specific genetic make-up of an individual or closely related group. Not all genes are expressed in the physical character of an organism. Those that are expressed produce the `phenotype', the genetically determined, character of the individual.
Histopathology	Changes in tissues of living organisms caused by disease, often identified by microscopic examination.
Hogget	A yearling sheep - that is a lamb that has been weaned but which does not have its first two adult teeth.
Ileum	The lowest section of the small intestines.
Immunity	The ability to resist infection or development of a disease caused by an infective agent such as a bacterium.
Incidence of a disease	The number of new cases having their onset during a given time - that is the increase or decrease in the prevalence of the disease over time.4Infection, infectious disease
Johne's Disease	A wasting disease of animals, particularly ruminants, caused by infection of the walls of the small intestines by the bacterium Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Different strains of the species often appear to be responsible for disease in different species.
Ley cropping systems	A farming system in which crops are rotated with pastures on the same paddocks to restore fertility to the soil
Market	In economic terms, a market exists where a buyer and seller agree to trade. For a trade to occur both buyer and seller must be satisfied with the price, form and quality of the product.5 In economic terms a `pure market' exists where a number of conditions are met. These include the buyer and seller being the only persons with an interest in the allocation of resources that result from the transaction and both the buyer and seller having full information and free choices in respect to the transaction.
Market failure	This is an economic term used to describe where conditions for a `pure market' do not exist - for example, where costs of an action (service) fall on one person and the benefits of the action are gained by someone else who is not paying the person providing the benefit fully for that benefit.
Moratorium	A temporary halt to an action or program.
Mycobacterium paratuberculosis	The bacterium that causes Johne's disease, also known as Mycobacterium avium, subspecies paratuberculosis - usually abbreviated to M. paratuberculosis.
National OJD Program	The six-year National OJD Control and Evaluation Program formalised by a Deed of Agreement between the State and federal Governments, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Sheepmeat and Wool Councils of Australia.
Notifiable disease	A disease listed in the Livestock Diseases Control Act 1994 is a notifiable disease. This listing leads to the requirement that persons who suspects the presence of such a disease in an animal in their possession or on their land, must notify an animal inspector of this fact.
OJD	Ovine Johne's disease.
Organism	Any form of animal or plant life, including bacteria.
Ovine	Adjective indicating to do with sheep.
Oxidised	The state of a chemical that results from combination with oxygen or loss of electrons.
Pathogens	A disease-producing organism.6Prevalence - of a disease The total number of cases of infection present at a given point in time.7 With respect to OJD, prevalence may relate to an individual flock - that is the number of infected animals within a flock, or to the number of flocks in a region or jurisdiction that contain some infected animals. In the latter case, prevalence figures do not indicate the actual number of infected animals.
Quarantine	An order or written undertaking empowered by legislation restricting susceptible species to a certain location and requiring authorisation for movement to and from that location.8RIRDC
Ruminants	Animals whose digestive system includes a rumen, a stomach-like enlargement of the intestines below the stomach in which specialised bacteria assist in the digestion of the animal's food. These animals are typically herbivorous that chew their cud, such as sheep, goats and cattle.
Stud	An animal with a breeding pedigree registered with a stud association for that breed.
Sub-clinical signs	Signs (of disease) that cannot be observed by external examination of a live animal, such as changed or damaged internal tissue that is not having immediate effects on the animal's health.
`Suspect' flock	A flock where there is sufficient grounds to indicate that the flock might be infected with OJD, such as a flock being run on a property adjoining one on which infected sheep are grazed or a flock identified by `trace-back' or `trace-forward'.9Toxic, toxicology
10race forward	Identification of `suspect' flocks on the grounds that they have had sheep introduced into them from a flock identified as infected with OJD.
Under Surveillance	A flock that is `under surveillance' for OJD has been identified as `suspect', but subsequent investigations have shown the likelihood of infection to be sufficiently low to allow some conditional movement of animals from the flock.11 Further testing that provides no evidence of disease may the lead to the release the flock from surveillance.
Vaccine - killed vaccine, live vaccine.	A vaccine is a substance capable of stimulating an immune response to a disease agent in an animal into which the vaccine is introduced without actually causing the disease. The bacteria or virus that cause the disease can be killed but still produce an immune response and may be used as a `killed vaccine'. Alternatively live bacteria or viruses, which are closely related to the disease agent and produce a similar immune response, but little or no disease, may be used. The latter is a `live vaccine'.
Veterinary Officer	Trained veterinarians employed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to oversee and deliver animal health programs. Senior Veterinary Officers are responsible for one or more District Veterinary Officers. They work with Departmental Animal Health Officers.
Victorian OJD Control Program	The Committee has used this term to refer to the program that was in place between December 1996 and November 1999 in Victoria for the control and eradication of OJD. This included destocking with compensation (suspended in November 1999) as well as aspects of the OJD control program that continued into 2000.
Virulence	Capacity to produce severe disease.
Wether	A castrated male sheep.
Wild population	A population of any animal which is living and breeding in the wild; that is, not subject to human cultivation, confinement or husbandry.
Wildlife	Native animals living in their natural habitat.

¹ Schnurrenberger, Sharman and Wise (1987).

² Schnurrenberger, Sharman and Wise (1987). p. 4.

³ Council of Australian Governments (1992), p. 8.

⁴ Schnurrenberger, Sharman and Wise (1987). p. 6.

⁵ Malcolm, Sale and Egan (1996), Chapter 7.

⁶ Schnurrenberger, Sharman and Wise (1987).

⁷ Schnurrenberger, Sharman and Wise (1987). p. 6.

⁸ Veterinary Committee (1998), p. 6.

⁹ Veterinary Committee (1998), p. 8.

¹⁰ Delbridge, Bernard, Blair and Ramson (1987).

¹¹ Veterinary Committee (1998), p. 9.