NABS resources
The full list of NABS resources
SDI flyer for livestock clients
Easily add your practice details.
Veterinary student subsidies for placements in northern Australia
Opportunity to explore practice in northern Australia in 2026 with a $3,000 veterinary placement subsidy - LOOK NOW - APPLICATIONS CLOSE 9 JANUARY
NABSnet Masterclass 2026
A Masterclass for northern Australia livestock veterinarians to build skills in disease surveillance and investigation - March 2026 in Perth
SDI arrangements
The arrangements and subsidy for NABsnet Significant Disease Investigations
Cattle Skin Survey
Participation in this survey keeps awareness of skin lesions - and focus on LSD exclusions - front of mind.
NABSnet Sampling by Syndrome Guide For Vets
Download the NABSnet SDI syndrome sampling guide - mind maps for differentials and sampling tips for: neurological, respiratory, skin, sudden death and illthrift syndromes
Illthrift differentials and sampling guide for cattle
Causes of illthrift (failure to grow or maintain weight in the presence of apparently adequate nutrition) in cattle in northern Australia - and what samples to send to the lab.
Laboratory contacts
Contact details for the state veterinary laboratories in WA, NT and Qld for advice on sample collection and submission.
Improving diagnostic outcomes with the lab
Shirley Turner's tips for sample collection and troubleshooting unsatisfactory outcomes.
2025 NABSnet Masterclass, Townsville QLD
Northern Australia livestock veterinarians built skills in disease surveillance and investigation - March 2025
Disease mapping
Tristan Jubb's practical approach to livestock disease investigations - where the focus is reaching a confirmed diagnosis and preventing further cases.
Sudden death differentials and sampling guide for cattle
Causes of sudden death in cattle in northern Australia and what samples to send to the lab.
Guide to doing a chicken necropsy
The steps to doing a field necropsy on a bird, using the chicken as an example
Skin lesions differentials and sampling guide for cattle
Causes of skin lesions in cattle in northern Australia and what samples to send to the lab.
Respiratory differentials and sampling guide for cattle
Causes of respiratory signs in cattle in northern Australia and what samples to send to the lab.
NABSnet members
The names and locations of people in the NABSnet frontline.
Neurological differentials and sampling guide for cattle
Causes of neurological signs in cattle in northern Australia and what samples to send to the lab.
Writing a report to producers
A simple template for reporting NABSnet disease investigation outcomes to clients.
NABSnet Welcome Pack
For people new to NABSnet - describing who is in the network and how it works.
Mastering your brain smear technique
How to do brain and organ smears to help the diagnostic workup in the laboratory (eg rule-out tick fever).
Collecting maggots for Screw Worm Fly surveillance
Use Animal Health Australia's kits to collect maggots and send to the lab when investigating myiasis (flystrike) in northern Australia.
On the alert for FMD in Australia
Multiple cases of FMD were reported in Indonesia in May 2022. Ring the EAD Hotline if you suspect a case.
African swine fever information and training
ASF is a serious exotic disease that would have major impacts on the pork industry in Australia if an outbreak occurred. You can help keep Australia ASF free.
Gross path challenge #11
Transected cerebellum from a feedlot steer: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #10
Oral lesions: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Lumpy Skin Disease resources
Lumpy Skin Disease, a pox virus infecting cattle and buffalo, has been spreading rapidly across Asia in 2021. It has never been reported in Australia. Ring the EAD Hotline if you suspect a case.
Protocol for performing bovine necropsy
Comprehensive post mortem examination of body systems - pick the one you want to go into in more detail.
Collecting Johne’s disease samples
Lab requirements for faecal samples collected for JD testing for stock movements, export testing or clinical diagnosis.
NABSnet Newsletters
Back issues of the monthly electronic newsletter sent to the NABS network from July 2018 onwards.
2021 Masterclass on plant poisonings
Presentations from the 2021 NABS Online Masterclass on the poisonous plants relevant to livestock in northern Australia.
Guides to collecting and preserving plant specimens
Guides to collecting and preserving plant specimens and contact details for services to northern Australia.
Plant identification experts
Where to send plant specimens - botanists and their locations.
Gross path challenge #9
Bovine heart: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #8
Goat pleural cavity and lung: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #7
Bovine skin lesions: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #6
Goat lung: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Hendra virus facts and resources
How to protect people and assess the risk of a Hendra virus spillover event when attending sick horses.
African horse sickness in south-east Asia
How to recognise African horse sickness on the small chance it enters Australia with infected insects.
Gross path challenge #5
Bovine lung: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #4
Sheep oesophagus: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #3
Bovine skeletal muscle: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #2
Calf small intestine: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Gross path challenge #1
Bovine liver: how would you describe the pathology shown here?
Canine ehrlichiosis in Australia
E canis is a notifiable disease: vets should be alert for suspect cases after the tick-borne bacteria was diagnosed in northern Australia in 2020.
Tips for sending fixed brains
Tips for sampling brains post mortem, fixing in formalin and packing samples to send to a veterinary laboratory.
Differentials for repro investigations
A table showing the causes of reproductive disease in cattle in northern Australia, how they manifest (as infertility, abortion or neonatal loss), and whether they are notifiable diseases or zoonotic infections.
EAD Field Guide For Vets
Download CSIRO's 2019 Emergency Animal Disease Field Guide for vets.
Repro disease investigation resources
Veterinary guide to reproductive disease investigations of cattle in northern Australia with regional benchmarks, risk factors and diagnosis.
Getting a brain out intact
Use this simple technique to remove the whole brain intact during a field post mortem of cattle or sheep.
Collecting and transporting ocular fluids
Get useful diagnostic biochemistry up to 48 hours after death by sampling and submitting ocular (eye) fluid in a livestock post mortem.
Describing gross pathology
A guide to describing gross pathology - written by pathologists so they can see what you saw - to get the diagnostic work-up off to a strong start.
NT Buffalo Industry Code Of Practice
2018 Code of Practice for the buffalo industry in the Northern Territory including protocols on mustering, welfare and biosecurity.
Examples of disease exclusions in buffalo
Examples of exotic or notifiable diseases of buffalo in Australia that might present as sudden death, respiratory signs or ill thrift.
Choosing and maintaining sharp autopsy knives
A practical guide on how to choose, sharpen and maintain razor-sharp knives for use in livestock post mortems.
Laboratory diagnosis of botulism
Samples to send the lab in suspect cases of botulism in livestock to rule-out common differentials and help confirm the diagnosis.
BRD and exotic differentials
Gross lung pathology seen in shipping fever and 3 other respiratory diseases of cattle exotic to Australia (pleuro, TB and HS).
Guidelines for Veterinary Personal Biosecurity
The AVA's guide for personal biosecurity during routine consultations and disease investigations.
Using jab sticks (aka pole syringes)
How to use a jab stick (pole syringe) to sedate or medicate cattle that you can't, or don't want to, get close to.
Tick Fever Agnote
A practical overview of the two types of tick fever, babesiosis and anaplasmosis, that can occur in northern Australia (NT AgNote 2016).
Mastering your blood smear technique
How to run a blood drop along the slide for a perfect blood smear - a great aid when investigating sudden death or ill thrift.
Vet students inspired by work experience in the north
What vet students said about working in northern Australia (from placements assisted by the Australian Government in 2018-2019).
Nepal – a first class education into every facet of FMD
How first-hand experience of FMD in Nepal helped underpin the preparedness to act for northern Australian vets.
Euthanasia of livestock with magnesium sulphate
A practical method vets can use to euthanase livestock without damaging the brain using intravenous administration of magnesium sulphate.
NABS SDI Field Guide
The Field Guide describes the NABS SDI process, differential diagnoses for clinical syndromes of cattle in northern Australia and what samples to collect.