Boosting Diagnostics, standards, and data sharing to support surveillance
Australia has for many years identified the need to significantly increase the quantity and quality of biosecurity surveillance data collected across its many animal and plant industries. This data provides confirmation of area freedom for trade purposes, enables early detection of new or emerging pathogens and provides growers with real time predictive data on which management decision can be generating using novel and affordable approaches. Scalable, high throughput and affordable diagnostic tools such as High Throughput Sequencing (HTS: metabarcoding, amplicon sequencing, metagenomics), eDNA technology and digital imagery capabilities are being developed to support surveillance activities. To maximise adoption of these technologies, strategies to develop standards for using these diagnostic tools, including guidelines for accurate interpretation of complex datasets and for sharing surveillance data, will be discussed.