Here are my thoughts on quarantine, please evaluate them:
- Quarantine plays an invaluable role in reducing the spread of in and within Australia
- However, quarantine by itself itsn't enough to achieve this goal - also needs vaccination, public diligent in avoiding infected locations, etc.
- Quarantine involves isolating plants, animals, biological goods and even humans. During isolation,
the items are inspected/analysed for pathogens. They may also be given time for symptoms of a disease
to develop
- If a positive result for a pathogen is found, the item is destroyed, otherwise it is permitted
- Quarantine regulations also involve outright prohibitions of high-risk objects, foods, animals, pets etc. If found, items are confiscated, destroyed and fines are made
- Can involve sniffer dogs, scanning luggage, manual inspection of luggage and belongings by quarantine officers
It is more costly to try to bring a disease under control once it has entered the country then trying to prevent it from entering.
Quarantine also involves prohibiting the movement of plants, animals or items that could carry a pathogen.
There are fruit bins at state highway borders and domestic airports for people to dispose of a range of fruits. The entry of many fruits is
prohibited to reduce the chance of fruit flies spreading between borders. These fruit flies could devastate local agricultural industries.
Success:
- prevented an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the early 2000s
- prevented the entry of Chinese citrus greening disease
- prevented rabies, mad cow disease
Weaknesses of quarantine include:
- not effective against pathogens spread my migratory birds
- there are human rights issues associated with quarantining people for extended periods, yet many diseases can take a considerable time to cause symptoms
- not effective against
- couldn't avoid the entry of equine influenza into Australia in 2007
- prions present a challenge to quarantine because they are highly contagious but don't cause symptoms until a very
-not effective against diseases that are highly contagious, e.g., the flu
- Quarantine plays an invaluable role in reducing the spread of in and within Australia
- However, quarantine by itself itsn't enough to achieve this goal - also needs vaccination, public diligent in avoiding infected locations, etc.
- Quarantine involves isolating plants, animals, biological goods and even humans. During isolation,
the items are inspected/analysed for pathogens. They may also be given time for symptoms of a disease
to develop
- If a positive result for a pathogen is found, the item is destroyed, otherwise it is permitted
- Quarantine regulations also involve outright prohibitions of high-risk objects, foods, animals, pets etc. If found, items are confiscated, destroyed and fines are made
- Can involve sniffer dogs, scanning luggage, manual inspection of luggage and belongings by quarantine officers
It is more costly to try to bring a disease under control once it has entered the country then trying to prevent it from entering.
Quarantine also involves prohibiting the movement of plants, animals or items that could carry a pathogen.
There are fruit bins at state highway borders and domestic airports for people to dispose of a range of fruits. The entry of many fruits is
prohibited to reduce the chance of fruit flies spreading between borders. These fruit flies could devastate local agricultural industries.
Success:
- prevented an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the early 2000s
- prevented the entry of Chinese citrus greening disease
- prevented rabies, mad cow disease
Weaknesses of quarantine include:
- not effective against pathogens spread my migratory birds
- there are human rights issues associated with quarantining people for extended periods, yet many diseases can take a considerable time to cause symptoms
- not effective against
- couldn't avoid the entry of equine influenza into Australia in 2007
- prions present a challenge to quarantine because they are highly contagious but don't cause symptoms until a very
-not effective against diseases that are highly contagious, e.g., the flu