This 5-year work program commencing in 2021 is of strategic importance and will enhance the ability of NSW DPIRD to respond to incursions and outbreaks of priority pests and diseases. We will build this capacity by identifying gaps in our existing capability and establishing appropriate diagnostic solutions that are rapid, accurate and scalable.

The Pest, Disease, Diagnosis and Research (PDDR) unit within Biosecurity and Food Safety (BFS) has commenced a research work program to systematically implement rapid, scalable diagnostic tests for the top priority pests and diseases that pose a risk to NSW primary industries. This program will engage expertise across disciplines within PDDR and seek risk-based advice and governance from Animal, Plant and Aquatic Biosecurity to deliver the best outcomes. We will also form national and international collaborations to ensure best practice and foster nation-wide capacity building?.

Our strategy will focus on improving our capability to understand, screen and diagnose pests and diseases using a combination of targeted molecular assays and multiplexed high throughput sequencing testing. These tests will be adaptable to support the high-throughput sampling regime of a biosecurity response. We will strengthen our disease response and tracing capability by building whole-genome sequencing  analysis pipelines across the broader categories of disease agents, which has been used effectively by PDDR in the Salmonella Enteriditis response, and extensively for SARS-CoV-2 by NSW Health.

Deliverables

• A consolidated list of the priority pest and diseases impacting animal, plant and aquatic biosecurity in NSW
• Diagnostic tests
  • A validated test for each of the 200+ priority pests and diseases that is accurate, rapid and scalable
  • A validated proof-of-concept methodology for massively multiplexed diagnostics
  • Where appropriate, develop targeted multiplexing or pan-genus assays
• Disease Epidemiology
  • A reference whole-genome sequence for key priority diseases
  • Bioinformatic pipelines for the assembly and analysis of viral, bacterial, parasite and insect genomes.
• Repository
  • Physical and electronic catalogue of critical reagents
  • Natural or synthetic positive controls for each priority pest and disease
  • Reference genomes and data for key priority pest and diseases

Forecast project value

• $2.6 million

Further reading

• Plant pests and diseases (www.agriculture.gov.au)
• National Priority Plant Pests (2019) (www.agriculture.gov.au)