The legal requirements in relation to declared animal diseases are in the Biosecurity Act 2019 and associated regulations. (These were previously 'List A' or 'List B' notifiable diseases under the Animal Health Act 1995 sections 26 to 30, and Regulation 7 of the Animal Health Regulations 2016.)
These diseases are all serious, with some being
zoonotic (can also infect humans).
Tasmania has two lists of declared animal diseases:
Exotic animal diseases - most of the diseases in this list are exotic to the whole of Australia, but there are a small number that occur on mainland Australia but not in Tasmania. The law requires that any suspicion of a declared exotic ('List A') disease is reported immediately to an inspector and that the owner of the suspect animals isolates them immediately, pending further investigation of the signs.
Endemic animal diseases - are known to occur in Tasmania or on the Australian mainland and some form of monitoring or control is required. The law requires that any suspicion of a declared endemic ('List B') disease is reported immediately to an inspector. There is no legal requirement to isolate the suspect animals pending further investigation of the signs, but owners are strongly urged to take all reasonable steps to prevent any spread of those diseases that are contagious.
In addition, there are two further categories of animal disease that must be reported:
New disease: any suspect case of a new disease (not believed to be currently in Tasmania) must be reported immediately to an inspector.
Unknown disease: any disease that is causing deaths or production losses and which is not readily diagnosed is deemed to be an unknown disease. Any unknown disease must also be reported immediately to an inspector or investigated by a veterinarian and the suspect animals isolated pending further investigation of the signs.
To report any of these animal diseases phone the
Emergency Disease Hotline 1800 675 888 (all hours).
There are penalties for failing to report one of these animal diseases, and for failing to isolate animals suspected of being infected with one of these animal diseases.
For further information on animal diseases or on
Tasmania's legal requirements relating to declared animal diseases, email
AnimalDisease.Enquiries@nre.tas.gov.au, or call 03 6165 3777.
Exotic Animal Diseases ('List A')
Diseases associated with multiple terrestrial animal species
Infection with
Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax)
Infection with Australian bat lyssavirus
Bluetongue (clinical disease)
Infection with Borna disease virus
Infection with
Brucella canis
Infection with Camelpox virus
Infection with
Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease)
Infection with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus
Encephalitides (tick-borne)
Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (clinical disease)
Infection with foot and mouth disease virus
Infection with
Ehrlichia canis (Ehrlichiosis)
Infection with
Ehrlichia ruminantium (Heartwater)
Infection with
Echinococcus multilocularis
Infection with Japanese encephalitis virus
Infection with ovine herpesvirus-2 or alcelaphine herpesvirus-1 (malignant catarrhal fever, wildebeest-associated)
Infection with
Pseudogymnoascus destructans in bats (White Nose Syndrome)
Infection with rabies virus
Infection with Rift Valley fever virus
Infection with rinderpest virus
Infestation with
Cochliomyia hominivorax (New World screwworm)
Infestation with
Chrysomya bezziana (Old World Screwworm)
Infection with
Mycobacterium bovis
Infection with
Mycobacterium caprae
Infection with
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Infection with
Trypanosoma evansi (Surra)
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, chronic wasting disease of deer, feline spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie)
Infection with Trichinella spp.
Trypanosomosis (tsetse fly associated)
Infection with
Francisella tularensis (Tularaemia)
Infection with vesicular stomatitis virus
Infestation with Warble-fly (warble-fly myiasis)
West Nile virus infection (clinical disease)
Diseases associated with cattle
Haemorrhagic septicaemia (Infection with
Pasteurella multocida serotypes 6:b and 6:e)
Infection with
Brucella abortus
Infection with Jembrana disease virus
Infection with louping ill virus
Infection with lumpy skin disease virus
Infection with
Mycoplasma mycoides subsp.
mycoides SC (contagious bovine pleuropneumonia)
Infection with
Theileria parva (East Coast fever) or
T. annulata (Mediterranean theileriosis)
Diseases associated with sheep and goats
Contagious agalactia (clinical disease)
Infection with
Brucella melitenisis
Infection with
Chlamydophila abortus (enzootic abortion of ewes, ovine chlamydiosis)
Infection with
Mycoplasma capricolum subsp.
capripneumoniae (contagious caprine pleuropneumonia)
Infection with Nairobi sheep disease virus
Infection with peste des petits ruminants virus
Infestation with
Psoroptes ovis (sheep scab)
Infection with Sheep pox and goat pox virus
Infection with Wesselbron virus
Maedi-visna
Pulmonary adenomatosis (Jaagsiekte)
Diseases associated with equines
Infection with African horse sickness virus
Infection with
Babesia caballi,
B. equi or
Theileria equi (Equine piroplasmosis)
Infection with
Burkholderia mallei (Glanders)
Infection with Eastern, Western or Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis viruses
Infection with equine encephalosis virus
Infection with equine influenza virus
Infection with Getah virus
Infection with Hendra virus
Infection with
Histoplasma farciminosum (epizootic lymphangitis)
Infection with
Neorickettsia risticii (Potomac fever)
Infection with
Taylorella equigenitalis (contagious equine metritis)
Infection with
Trypanosoma equiperdum (dourine)
Diseases associated with swine
Infection with African swine fever virus
Infection with Aujeszky’s disease virus
Infection with Bungowannah virus
Infection with classical swine fever virus
Infection with Influenza A viruses in swine
Infection with Menangle virus
Infection with Nipah virus
Infection with porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus
Infection with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
Infection with Seneca Valley virus (Senecavirus A)
Infection with swine vesicular disease virus
Infection with Teschovirus A (porcine enteroviral encephalomyelitis)
Infection with transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus
Infection with vesicular exanthema of swine virus
Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome
Diseases associated with birds
Duck virus hepatitis
Infection with Influenza A viruses in birds
Infection with avian metapneumovirus (Turkey rhinotracheitis)
Infection with duck herpesvirus 1 (duck viral enteritis / duck plague)
Infection with
Mycoplasma iowae
Infection with infectious bursal disease virus (hypervirulent and exotic antigenic variant forms)
Infection with Newcastle disease virus (virulent)
Infection with
Salmonella gallinarum (fowl typhoid)
Diseases associated with bees
Africanised honey bees
Infestation of honey bees with
Acarapis woodi (Acariasis tracheal mite)
Infestation of bees with
Tropilaelaps clareae or
Tropilaelaps mercedesae (Tropilaelaps mite)
Infestation of bees with
Varroa destructor or
Varroa jacobsoni (Varroosis)
Diseases associated with finfish
Bacterial kidney disease (Renibacterium salmoninarum)
Channel catfish virus disease
Enteric redmouth disease (Yersinia ruckeri – Hagerman strain)
Infection with epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus
European catfish virus / European sheatfish virus
Furunculosis (Aeromonas salmonicida subsp.
salmonicida)
Infection with Singapore grouper iridovirus (ranavirus)
Infection with
Aphanomyces invadans (epizootic ulcerative syndrome)
Infection with Gyrodactylus salaris
Infection with infectious salmon anaemia virus
Infection with salmon alphavirus
Infection with infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus
Infectious pancreatic necrosis
Infection with infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus
Infection with Koi herpesvirus (Cyprinid herpesvirus 3)
Oncorhynchus masou virus disease
Piscirickettsiosis (Piscirickettsia salmonis)
Infection with Red sea bream iridoviral disease
Sealice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis)
Infection with spring viraemia of carp virus
Infection with Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) disease
Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy
Infection with viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus
Whirling disease (Myxobolus cerebralis)
Diseases associated with molluscs
Infection with
Bonamia exitiosa
Infection with
Bonamia ostreae
Infection with
Mikrocytos mackini
Infection with
Marteilia refringens
Infection with
Marteilia sydneyi
Infection with
Marteilioides chungmuensis
Infection with
Perkinsus marinus
Infection with
Perkinsus olseni
Infection with
Xenohalitotis californiensis
Iridoviroses
Haplosporidium nelsoni infection in shellfish
Nocardiosis of shellfish
Diseases associated with crustaceans
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease
Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei
Gill-associated virus
Infection with
Aphanomyces astaci (crayfish plague)
Infection with
Hepatobacter penaei (necrotising hepatopancreatitis)
Infection with infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus
Infection with
Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (white tail disease)
Infection with myonecrosis virus
Infection with Taura syndrome virus
Infection with white spot syndrome virus
Infection with yellow head virus genotype 1
Monodon slow growth syndrome
Diseases associated with amphibians
Infection with
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans
Infection with Ranavirus species
Endemic Animal Diseases
('List B')
Diseases associated with multiple terrestrial animal species
Infection with
Chlamydia psittaci (avian psittacosis)
Devil Facial Tumour Disease
Infection with
Echinococcus granulosus (Hydatid disease)
Infection with
Leishmania spp.
Infection with
Leptospirosis interrogans serovars
Infection with
Listeria monocytogenes
Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease)
Infection with
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
Salmonellosis (clinical disease)
Infection with Verotoxic
E. coli
Diseases associated with cattle
Infection with
Anaplasma marginale (bovine anaplasmosis) in tick free areas
Infection with
Babesia bovis,
B. bigemina or
B. divergens (bovine babesiosis) in tick free areas
Infection with bovine leukaemia virus (enzootic bovine leucosis)
Infection with bovine virus diarrhoea virus (type 2)
Infestation with
Taenia saginata (Cysticercus bovis)
Diseases associated with sheep and goats
Infection with
Brucella ovis (Ovine brucellosis)
Infection with
Salmonella abortus-ovis
Diseases associated with equine species
Infection with equine herpes virus 1 (EHV-1)
Infection with equine infectious anaemia virus
Infection with equine arteritis virus
Infection with
Salmonella abortus-equi
Diseases associated with swine
Infection with
Brucella suis
Infection with
Taenia solium (Porcine cysticercosis / Cysticercus cellulosae)
Diseases associated with birds
Infection with
Mycobacterium avium (avian tuberculosis)
Infection with
Salmonella Enteritidis in poultry
Infection with
Salmonella Pullorum (Pullorum disease)
Diseases associated with bees
Infection of bees with
Melissococcus plutonius (European foulbrood)
Infection of bees with
Paenibacillus larvae (American foulbrood)
Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida)
Diseases associated with finfish
Infection with Aeromonas salmonicida - atypical strains (marine aeromonad disease, goldfish ulcer disease)
Enteric septicaema of catfish (Edwardsiella ictaluri)
Infection with Rickettsia-like organism (RLO) of salmonids
Infection with Pilchard orthomyxo virus (POMV)
Infection with
Lactococcus garvieae (Streptococcosis of salmonids)
Infection with aquatic birnavirus
Diseases associated with molluscs
Infection with Abalone herpesvirus (Haliotid herpesvirus-1)
Bonamia species infection in shellfish, other than
Bonamia ostreae infection in shellfish or
Bonamia exitiosus infection in shellfish
Infection with Ostreid herpesvirus-1
Diseases associated with amphibians
Infection with
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidi
For further information: