This article published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 25, No 4, November 2001 contains an Australian Government announcement regarding importation of beef and beef products into Australia. On 18 July 2001, the Australian Government announced a new requirement that all beef and beef products imported into Australia should certify their bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) free status. This policy announcement follows on from, and effectively implements, the new food standard recently agreed by the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Council that requires all beef products sold for human consumption in Australia be derived from BSE-free animals.

The Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network was established in 1991 to provide a rapid, national, monitoring scheme for infectious diseases that can alert public health officials of epidemics before they arise. The network consists of general practitioners, throughout all 8 states and territories in Australia, who report presentations on a number of defined medical conditions each week. T This report presents data from the third quarter of 2015 (1 July to 30 September) and includes the syndromic surveillance of influenza-like-illness, gastroenteritis, chicken pox, and shingles, and the virological surveillance of respiratory viruses including influenza A, influenza B, RSV and rhinovirus.

A National Vaccine Safety Workshop was held at the University of Sydney on 17 November 2005. The workshop was sponsored by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and the National Immunisation Committee.

This report describes a small outbreak of measles that occurred in the Whitsunday region, north Queensland, in July to August 2002. With one exception, all the cases were deliberately unvaccinated because their parents were conscientious objectors to vaccination. It is suggested that this pattern of measles outbreaks, with most cases being not preventable because of conscientious objection, will become increasingly recognised in the future.

This, the 5th annual immunisation coverage report, documents trends during 2011 for a range of standard measures derived from Australian Childhood Immunisation Register data, and National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program Register data. The proportion of children 'fully vaccinated' at 12, 24 and 60 months of age was 91.4%, 92.2% and 89.5% respectively. Although pneumococcal vaccine had similar coverage at 12 months to other vaccines, coverage was lower for rotavirus at 12 months (83.8%) and varicella at 24 months (83.9%). By late 2011, the percentage of children who received the 1st dose of DTPa vaccine dose at less than 8 weeks of age was greater than 50% in 3 jurisdictions, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Queensland and at 70% for New South Wales and Tasmania. Although coverage at 12 months of age was lower among Indigenous children than non-Indigenous children in all jurisdictions, the extent of the difference varied. Overall, coverage at 24 months of age exceeded that at 12 months of age nationally. At 60 months of age, there was dramatic variation between individual jurisdictions, ranging from coverage 8% lower in Indigenous children in South Australia to 6% higher in the Northern Territory. As previously documented, vaccines recommended for Indigenous children only (hepatitis A and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine) had suboptimal coverage at 60% and 68%, respectively. On-time receipt (before 49 months of age) of vaccines by Indigenous children at the 60-month milestone age improved between 2010 (18%) and 2011 (19%) but the disparity in on-time vaccination between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children increased at all 3 age milestones. The percentage of vaccine objectors in 2011 (1.7%) has increased from 2007 when it was 1.1%. Coverage data for the 3rd dose of HPV from the national HPV register in the school catch up program was 71% but was substantially lower for the catch-up program for women outside school (39%-67%), although this was an improvement from 2010.

The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System collates data from Australian states and territories. These data have been published on the Department of Health website and quarterly data are published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence. This page contains data for the reporting period 1 April to 30 June 2015.

This version of the ASPREN Q3 2012 quarterly report, as published in CDI volume 37 issue 3, is an updated publication of the report; an earlier version of the Q3 2012 report was published in CDI volume 37 issue 1. Please be advised that minor differences in wording exist between the two published versions. The Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network was established in 1991 to provide a rapid, national, monitoring scheme for infectious diseases that can alert public health officials of epidemics before they arise. The network consists of general practitioners, throughout all 8 states and territories in Australia, who report presentations on a number of defined medical conditions each week. This report presents data from the third quarter of 2012 (1 July to 30 September) and includes the syndromic surveillance of influenza-like-illness, gastroenteritis, chicken pox, and shingles, and the virological surveillance of respiratory viruses including influenza A, influenza B, RSV and rhinovirus.

Noroviruses are a leading cause of outbreaks of gastroenteritis. This study examined the incidence and molecular characteristics of norovirus outbreaks in healthcare and non-healthcare settings in Victoria, Australia, over 2 years (2014-2015). Norovirus was detected in 65.7% and 60.4% of gastroenteritis outbreaks investigated for the years 2014 and 2015 respectively. There was a significant decline in the number of norovirus outbreaks in the period 2014 to 2015 although in both years norovirus outbreaks peaked in the latter part of the year. Norovirus Open Reading Frame (ORF) 2 (capsid) genotypes identified included GI.2, GI.3, GI.4, GI.5, GI.6, GI.9, GII.2, GII.3, GII.4, GII.6, GII.7, GII.8, GII.13 and GII.17. GII.4 was the most common genotype detected. In addition, the following ORF 1/ORF 2 recombinant forms were confirmed: GII.P4_NewOrleans_2009/GII.4_Sydney_2012, GII.P12/GII.3, GII.Pb (GII.21)/GII.3, GII.Pe/GII.2 and GII.Pe/GII.4_Sydney_2012. A significant decline was noted in the chief norovirus strain GII.Pe/GII.4_Sydney_2012 between 2014 and 2015 but there was a re-emergence of a GII.P4_ NewOrleans _2009 norovirus strain. Outbreaks involving the GII.P17/GII.17 genotype were also detected for the first time in Victoria. GI genotypes circulating in Victoria for the 2 years 2014 and 2015 underwent a dramatic change between the 2 years of the survey. Many genotypes could occur in both healthcare and non-healthcare settings although GI.3, GII.6, and GII.4 were significantly more common in healthcare settings. The study emphasises the complex way in which norovirus circulates throughout the community.

This report from the Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program (ARSP) and collaborating laboratories Australia-wide, describes the rotavirus genotypes identified in children and adults with acute gastroenteritis during the period 1 January to 31 December 2016. During this period, 949 faecal specimens were referred for rotavirus G and P genotype analysis, of which 230 were confirmed as positive for wildtype rotavirus, and 184 were identified as rotavirus vaccine-like. Genotype analysis of the 230 samples from both children and adults revealed that G2P[4] was the dominant genotype in this reporting period nationally, identified in 29% of samples, followed by equine-like G3P[8] and G12P[8] (19% and 15% respectively). Genotype distribution remained distinct between States using RotaTeq® and Rotarix® vaccines. In RotaTeq ® States, G12P[8] strains were more common, while G2P[4] and equine-like G3P[8] genotypes were more common in Rotarix® States and Territories. This report highlights the continued dominance of G12P[8] strains in RotaTeq® States and co-dominance of G2P[4] and equine-like G3P[8] in States and Territories using Rotarix®.

This report describes the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases of public health importance in Australia during the 2013-14 season (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014) and includes data from human notifications, sentinel chicken, vector and virus surveillance programs. The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System received notifications for 8,898 cases of disease transmitted by mosquitoes during the 2013-14 season. The Australasian alphaviruses Barmah Forest virus and Ross River virus accounted for 6,372 (72%) total notifications. However, over-diagnosis and possible false positive diagnostic test results for these 2 infections mean that the true burden of infection is likely overestimated, and as a consequence, the case definitions have been amended. There were 94 notifications of imported chikungunya virus infection and 13 cases of imported Zika virus infection. There were 212 notifications of dengue virus infection acquired in Australia and 1,795 cases acquired overseas, with an additional 14 cases for which the place of acquisition was unknown. Imported cases of dengue were most frequently acquired in Indonesia (51%). No cases of locally-acquired malaria were notified during the 2013-14 season, though there were 373 notifications of overseas-acquired malaria. In 2013-14, arbovirus and mosquito surveillance programs were conducted in most jurisdictions. Surveillance for exotic mosquitoes at international ports of entry continues to be a vital part of preventing the spread of vectors of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue to new areas of Australia, with 13 detections of exotic mosquitoes at the ports of entry in 2013-14.