AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

From the earliest days Torrens Island was recognised as an ideal location for human and animal quarantine. Obviously close to the sea, isolated but a part of Adelaide, and in later years near to an international airport. The early history involved imports of dogs, cattle and pigs. During the 1920s the station also undertook the breeding of rabbits for hospitals. However it was only in the 1980s that more complex quarantines occurred. The scrapie accreditation program involved a 6-year program. Imported Angora goats and sheep were bred on the island to produce progeny that could then be released. At its peak 1300 hundred goats and sheep were run under intensive field conditions. Disease was a major problem. Major problems occurred with Cosccidia, Corynebacterium infection, sugar gum poisoning, fatty liver and spider syndrome. In 1986 Adelaide hosted the Sixth World Three Day Eventing championships. Streamlining Quarantine arrangements for this event was a forerunner for the Sydney Olympics. Until recently Torrens was the site for the first legal imports of fertile eggs. Its beginnings caused considerable controversy within the commercial industry. The presentation will also briefly touch on human quarantine events including its use as an internment camp during World War 1.