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2.2 Skills and knowledge requirements
The skills and knowledge requirements are those necessary for servicing the disease investigation and data collection protocols developed for W.LIV.0252 and more broadly to
meet the requirements for routine data collection during voyages agreed between industry and Government described in Appendix 1.
Because the skills and knowledge required for satisfactorily investigating disease events are different for investigation of sickness compared to investigating death, they are listed
separately.
2.2.1 Skills and knowledge of veterinarians and stockpersons investigating deaths
1. Awareness of the common syndromes, diseases and conditions that cause death in live export cattle including what they look like, what to look for and the theoretical risk factors
predisposing to their occurrence. 2. Awareness of the safety and hygiene precautions required to prevent injury or infection
with a zoonotic agent when handling, examining and sampling sick animals. 3. Systematically collect a history and conduct a necropsy
4. Recognise, describe and interpret abnormal gross necropsy changes 5. Recognise the risk factors operating on board that predispose to death
6. Know where to find a list of samples to collect during necropsies from cattle showing different symptoms
7. Collect good quality representative samples according to the protocol and store the samples
8. Provide a tentative diagnosis and differential diagnoses based on history, gross necropsy findings and presence of risk factors
9. Satisfactorily complete a Necropsy Report 10. Use and maintain a captive bolt gun
11. Assess effective stunning and killing 12. Remove a brain using the longitudinal craniotomy method
13. Sharpen a knife using a stone and steel 14. Age cattle by their teeth
2.2.2 Skills and knowledge required of veterinarian or stockperson investigating sickness
1. Awareness of the common syndromes, diseases and conditions causing sickness in live export cattle including what they look like, what to look for and the theoretical risk factors
predisposing to their occurrence. 2. Awareness of the safety and hygiene precautions required to prevent injury or infection
with a zoonotic agent when handling, examining and sampling sick animals. 3. Make systematic and accurate individual animal within-group and group-level
observations and comparisons of cattle 4. Recognise and interpret abnormal clinical signs
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5. Recognise existing active risk factors operating on board that are predisposing to disease occurrence
6. Provide a tentative diagnosis and short list of differential diagnosis based on history, clinical signs and presence of risk factors.
7. Know where to find a list of samples required to be collected from cattle showing different symptoms
8. Collect good quality, representative samples according to a protocol and securely store the samples
9. Use the various health indices available on board including food and water consumption, drug usage and hospital pen records to measure amount and impact of different
diseases and conditions. 10. Understand the system for daily collection and pooling of observational data from
stockpersons to form the basis for a description of animal health on a daily basis during voyages.
11. Accurately complete a Sick Cattle Sample Submission Form so that the information is usable by a laboratory diagnostician and contributes useful epidemiological data.
12. Accurately complete a Sick Cattle Epi Report that contributes useful epidemiological data 13. Disinfect and package samples for the return voyage
2.3 Skills, knowledge, experience and attitudes of accredited veterinarians and stockpersons
