Three web-based biosecurity intelligence systems - BioCaster, EpiSPIDER and HealthMap--are compared with respect to their ability to gather and analyse information relevant to public health. Reports from each system for the period 2-30 August 2010 were studied. The systems were compared to the volume of information that they acquired, their overlaps in this information, their timeliness, their sources, their focus on different languages and their focus on different geographical regions. Main results were as follows: EpiSPIDER obtains the most information and does so mainly through Twitter; no significant difference in systems' timeliness was found; there is a relatively small overlap between the systems (10-20%); the systems have significant differences in their ability to acquire information relevant to different countries, which may be due to the sources they use and the languages they focus on.

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The authors discuss 'One Health' approaches for controlling newly recognised and re-emerging diseases of animal origin and contributions towards pandemic preparedness based on enhanced collaboration between Veterinary Services, Human Health Services and Environmental Services. Improved veterinary governance and cooperation with public health managers, social scientists, ecologists and many other stakeholders are important for reducing the risks of potential zoonoses-including foodborne diseases-at their source. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how One Health approaches can make a difference-Hendra disease incidents in Australia and rabies management on the African continent. This article also includes an overview of collaboration at the international level between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization. Environmental determinants for disease emergence, anthropogenic climate change and human encroachment on shrinking wildlife habitats are considered, using highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) and Nipah virus as examples. Finally, the authors discuss the effects of livestock production on environmental change-in the light of global population growth and increasing demand for livestock and aquaculture products-with the need for future policy decisions to be based on a multidisciplinary One Health approach.

The Commonwealth government has accepted the basic tenets of the report of the Australian Quarantine Review (the ‘Nairn Review’), except for the recommendations to establish a statutory authority. Australia will maintain its existing high standards of quarantine and enhance activities such as community awareness, manageable risk (based on science), protection of Australia’s unique environment, external input to policy formulation, and recognition of the continuum of quarantine (pre‐border, border and post‐border). Greater emphasis will be given to improved consultation in risk analysis, increased monitoring for pests and diseases, and enhanced national preparedness and response capacity (especially for plants and aquatic animals).

Australia’s quarantine policy is based on the concept of manageable risk, which is underpinned by quarantine risk analysis, which this article examines with particular reference to recommendations of the 1996 Australian Quarantine Review. Quarantine risk assessment addresses disease concerns associated with any particular proposed import and may also require detailed examination of possible economic and environmental effects. The degree of quantification varies, and more quantitative approaches may be either deterministic or stochastic. Assessments consider both the probability of an event occurring and its consequences, including the direct economic effect of any introduction of an exotic disease.