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Quarantinable diseases

Human diseases covered by the Quarantine Act 1908, and notifiable in Australia and to the WHO in 2010 were cholera, plague, rabies, yellow fever, smallpox, highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans (HPAIH), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and 4 viral haemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and Crimean–Congo).

Cholera, plague, rabies, smallpox, yellow fever, SARS, HPAIH and viral haemorrhagic fevers are of international public health importance. Travellers are advised to seek information on the risk of contracting these diseases at their destinations and to take appropriate measures. More information on quarantinable diseases and travel health can be found on the following web sites:

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing web site at: http://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-quaranti-index.htm

Smartraveller: The Australian Government’s travel advisory and consular assistance service at: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/

There were no cases of plague, rabies, smallpox, yellow fever, SARS, HPAIH or viral haemorrhagic fevers reported in Australia in 2010. Table 13 provides information on the occurrence of quarantinable diseases in Australia.

Table 13: Australia’s status for human quarantinable diseases, 2010

Disease	Status	Date of last record and notes
Cholera	Free	Small number of cases are reported annually and related to overseas travel or imported food products24
Plague	Free	Last case recorded in Australia in 192325
Rabies	Free	Last case (overseas acquired) recorded in Australia in 1990 26
Smallpox	Free	Last case recorded in Australia in 193827
Yellow fever	Free	No cases recorded on shore in Australia – 5 occasions on which vessels arrived in Australian ports 1892–191525
SARS	Free	Last case recorded in Australia in 200328
HPAIH	Free	No cases recorded29
Viral haemorrhagic fevers
Ebola	Free	No cases recorded
Marburg	Free	No cases recorded
Lassa	Free	No cases recorded
Crimean–Congo	Free	No cases recorded

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Cholera

There were 3 notified cases of cholera in Australia in 2010, two from New South Wales and one from Western Australia. All were acquired overseas. There were 19 cases of cholera in Australia between 2005 and 2009 (Table 7).

All cases of cholera reported since the commencement of the NNDSS in 1991 have been acquired outside Australia except for 1 case of laboratory-acquired cholera in 1996 and 3 cases in 2006.²⁴