Pests and diseases that are introduced from overseas can damage agriculture and our environment. This means plants and animals can get very sick or we don’t have fresh foods and vegetables available in the supermarkets.

There are many pests and diseases that can come into Australia. Bio Glow tells the story of just a few of the pests we are concerned about.

One pest is the Charru mussel. This mussel builds up in very large numbers on boats, jetties, and even on rocks and mangroves. This causes lots of damage and stops other things from growing there. The mussels also take food and homes away from Australia’s marine animals. This means the native animals can’t live there anymore.  

Lumpy Skin Disease is a disease of cows and buffalo. It makes these animals very sick. If this disease was introduced to Australia, many animals would die and we may not have the same quantity of meat available in supermarkets. Unlike in the Bio Glow story, it would be very hard to get rid of if it came to Australia.

Avian influenza (AI) is a viral infection of birds, including chickens. In Bio Glow, Dusty the chicken catches a cold from another bird and gets very sick. In our story, Dusty got better, but if it came to Australia, many birds could die. This could lead to more egg shortages, like we are seeing now.

Every year, Australia gets a lot of plant pests arriving on boats, in the mail, in shipping containers, and brought in by travellers. In Bio Glow, we see the disease, ‘Citrus Greening’ infect Lenny the lime. This disease causes the limes to taste horrible so no one wants to buy them. Trees would die. As we see in Bio Glow, tiny flies spread this disease from plant to plant, meaning it would be very hard to stop.

Because pests and diseases are so difficult to get rid of, the best thing to do is to prevent them from coming into Australia. We can all be biosecurity heroes by reporting symptoms on plants or animals. If we go overseas, it is important not to bring any plant or animal products back with us. This includes seeds. If we are lucky enough to go overseas, we should wash our clothes and shoes before we go onto Australian farms.

You can be a biosecurity hero too!

Bio Glow was created by Shane Eecen, Creative Director of Northern Lights NT in partnership with Anima Co. and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.