Quarantine
Reference to pleuro-pneumonia, swine fever and small pox in sheep in Turkey appears to have led to a prohibition of imports of stock, except horses (and dogs) from 1872 until 1879. Reference was made to the prohibition against stock from Great Britain, Canada and the United States of America being removed as from 9 July 1879. Torrens Island Quarantine Station, although used in 1879 for the first time for the quarantine of 23 pure Shorthorn cattle was not ready when the stock arrived and temporary accommodation was arranged. In 1881 five Shorthorn cattle were imported from England, but in 1882 further imports were prohibited due to another epidemic of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom. The prohibition appears to have continued until 1889 when the record shows eleven sheep and four cattle were imported.
Photo No.: 103721 Title: Photograph from animal quarantine exhibit at the Royal Adelaide Show showing United Kingdom case of Foot and Mouth disease. Date: Sep 1960
An 1886 conference in Sydney agreed to remove the prohibition on the imports of cattle and sheep. This followed separate action by the governments of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, when they agreed to quarantine periods of 120 days for cattle, 90 days for sheep and 6 months for dogs. All sheep and cattle had to be shipped from the port of London.
See SA quarantine (1872- 1929) ()
Following Federation quarantine became the responsibility of the Commonwealth and Australia had a consistent national approach to its management.