Introduced deer and their potential role in disease transmission to livestock in Australia

1. The transmission of pathogens between wildlife and livestock is a globally recognised threat to the livestock industry, as well as to human and wildlife health. Wild cervids are susceptible to many diseases affecting livestock. This presents a challenge for wildlife and domestic animal disease management because the frequent use of agricultural areas by wild cervids may hamper the effectiveness of disease control strategies. 2. Six deer species have established wild populations in Australia and are expanding in range and abundance. A comprehensive literature review of diseases impacting deer and livestock was undertaken, resulting in consideration of 38 pathogens. A qualitative risk assessment was then carried out to assess the overall risk posed by the pathogens to the livestock industry. 3. Five diseases (bovine tuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, malignant catarrhal fever, surra, and screw‐worm fly infestation) ranked highly in our risk assessment. Of these five diseases, only one (malignant catarrhal fever) is currently present in Australia, but all five are notifiable diseases at a national level. Data on these diseases in deer are limited, especially for one of the most abundant species, the sambar deer Rusa unicolor, highlighting a further potential risk attributable to a lack of understanding of disease epidemiology. 4. This paper provides a detailed review of the pathogens affecting both cervids and livestock in Australia, and applies a qualitative framework for assessing the risk posed by deer to the livestock industry. The qualitative framework used here could easily be adapted to assess disease risk in other contexts, making this work relevant to scientists and wildlife managers, as well as to livestock industry workers, worldwide

The RECORD Experimental Map: innovative research organisations in European accession countries: Budapest, January 2004

This Experimental Map is the first application of the RECORD Benchmarking Manual, which was designed for benchmarking the activities in scientific research organisations, the institutions that play a central role in a country's innovation system. The book contains empirical information (survey results and case studies) on research institutions of Central and Eastern Europe, showing how the fashionable term of the 'centres of excellence' can be treated in practice in this region of the European Research Area. The main message of the experimental map is that the internationally competitive and innovative research organisations are few in number in these countries and with the help of the Benchmarking Manual the most important gaps in the management of these organisations can be identified in order to learn and improve performance

The RECORD Manual: benchmarking innovative research organisations in European accession countries: Budapest, January 2004

This manual was designed in the benchmarking of the activities pursued in scientific research organisations that do or intend to support innovation in their economy and society. The authors of this manual think that the RECORD benchmarking methodology proposed serves a fourfold objective in the Accession States: - to help the spread of a modern management tool; - to map competitive innovative excellence, competencies, factors of success (and failures); - to improve performance and practice in the organisations and the national innovation systems concerned, in learning organisations and in the policy making process; - to provide a better basis for channelling of funds and allocation of resources and factors