Desert Air - 59. DA Ch 59 - Quarantine

“Dr Kendrik, I am Mac, head stockman and this is Pete, who will minding the cattle for you,” a man said as he approached as I climbed out, and I noted a swag and an esky strapped to the back of one of the bikes, and I shook both of their hands. “Pete, do you have a pair of gumboots by any chance?” I asked, “No sir, I don’t,” the young man said to me, who looked to be about 17 years old.

“Follow me, and we will sort that out,” I said, as I walked to the back of the vehicle and lifted the back door, before retrieving a spare pair of gumboots and overalls, which I handed to him. “From now on, you are the only person apart from me; who is permitted to get near these cattle, if you need to check on a cow that had dropped or you need to check the feed or water, you must wear these overalls and gumboots.

Any person other than you and me, who approaches theses yards, are to be warned to be keep away, and not return, and you are to radio to the homestead who that you warned off and at what time, they will then report this to me immediately, no matter what the time.

I will come and check the cattle twice daily to see how they are going and to take some more samples, understood?” I said to the young man then I looked at the head stockman. “Until further notice, this young man is to remain here, and no one is to approach the yards, and I mean nobody.

Water and food can be delivered to him from no closer than fifty metres from the yards, and he needs to not consume any alcohol while he is on duty, when I come to inspect the stock, young Pete here can take some time off to catch up on some sleep or just relax,” I instructed.

“Understood Dr Kendrik, I will do my very best to help you,” Pete said, I smiled and nodded my head before walking back to my car, where I retrieved a large roll of plastic tape, which clearly reads, “QUARINTINE AREA - DO NOT CROSS THIS LINE”.

“Mac, I will need about two dozen star pickets and a heavy hammer please,” I asked the head stockman, “I will get onto it,” the man said before he headed off on one of the quad bikes, while Pete and I helped to unload the cattle from the truck.

“Ok Mr Henry, you are to head back the way you came, and you are not to cross the border into Western Australia, for a period of fourteen days. You are also required to wash down and disinfect you truck at the nearest truck wash bay, which I believe will be in Katherine, do you understand these directives?” I said to the truck driver, after he had finished unloading the cattle.

“Yeah, yeah I bloody well understand. How do you expect me to make a living with all of this bloody red tape?” the driver replied.

“This is for the benefit of the livestock industry, and if I hear that you have not washed and disinfected your truck before you take on another load of cattle, then you will be in a lot more trouble, do you understand me?” I said sternly.

“Piss off mate, and let me earn a living,” the truck driver said to me as he climbed into his truck and started the motor. As a precaution, I decided to follow him, to make sure that he turns, left to continue inland, instead of turning right towards WA.

Once I had seen him turn left, I stopped and waited for fifteen minutes, before heading back to the cattle yards, where the head stockman had arrived with what I had asked for, before heading back towards the homestead.

I helped young Pete to place a 50-metre barrier around the stockyards, with star pickets and the warning tape, and I thanked Pete for all his help, and told him I would see him in the morning, before I headed west back to the border.

On the drive back to Kununurra, I was thinking of a way of having a permanent livestock quarantine station located on the Victoria and Buntine Highways, since the family own cattle stations at both locations, even thou Inverway is just over 80 kilometres east of the WA border.

Once back in town, I showered and changed, before I headed to the modular building company, that builds plus delivers modular office and work buildings. On entering the administration office, I was greeted by the receptionist, and I explained that I need a modular building, preferably solar powered, with a poly water tank and pressure pump, that has ablutions, kitchen, office space and one bedroom.

A man stepped out and introduced himself as the manager, and said that he had heard what I wanted, and asked me to come to the meeting room down the hall. Twenty minutes later, I left the building property smiling.

I completed a deal for the delivery of a modular package, which includes a 6 x 4 metre site office block with kitchenette, and seperate office, a 4 x 3 metre bathroom block, with biodegradable sewerage tank. Plus a 6 x 3 metre storage container, with a poly water tank and pressure pump included, to be delivered to Newry Station at 9 am tomorrow, which will be 10.30 NT time.

Back at the clinic office, I called Newry station, and it was answered by the station manager Philip Shanks. “Hello Philip, this is Dr Jexon Kendrik, the District veterinary Officer speaking,” I said, “Any relation to Mr Owen Kendrik, the new owner of this station?” came a reply.

“He is my uncle, but it is my mother Amanda, who is the owner and general manager of the company. I was wondering if you have a front-end loader capable of lifting a 6 x 3 metre modular building?” I replied, “Yes, we do have one of those, why is that?” the station manager asked, “Because I have arranged for some modular buildings to be brought to Newry, as a temporary base for the Quarantine Station at your stock yards,” I replied.

“I see, well I will get Mac to organise that for you, when are these buildings arriving?” Philip asked, “Leaving Kununurra at 8 am so it will be 10.30 your time,” I replied, “Ok, I will arrange it, will you be here for this?” Philip asked, “Yes, I will be leaving here at 7 am to come and check on the cattle, I would like to meet you in person when I am there please,” I replied.

With the basic equipment, I have for testing for diseases, I began to look at the soil and urine samples that I had taken earlier, and the urine samples were all clear, but the soil samples clearly showed Leptospirosis, so I picked up the phone and called the Department of Primary Industries in Katherine.

When the call answered, I looked at my watch and then at the paperwork in front of me, for the time that I arrived at the Checkpoint, before reporting to the DPI officer, that a truck with SA rego plates, was on its way to Katherine, after been turned back from the border.

I informed her that preliminary tests suggest Leptospirosis active on the floor of the cattle truck, which is estimated to arrive in Katherine in less than two hours time, unless it turned south on the Buchanan or Buntine Highways. If that is the case, then a recommend that a police road block needs to be put into place at Top Springs Roadhouse, at the junction of those two roads.

Once the call was over, I headed back to the resort to relax for the rest of the afternoon, having already missed lunch, and I decided to wait until dinnertime before eating.

When my phone rang, I groaned before looking to see who was calling. “Hello Marcus, how are things over in Derby, oh wait a sec, it is Sunday today and I was supposed to come and collect you,” I said as I remembered what I had forgotten to do.

Marcus chuckled, “I did try calling you this morning for a gentle reminder, but the phone diverted to Auggie’s phone, and he isn’t too happy with you either,” Marcus said and I groaned again.

“Sorry about that, I had urgent government business at the border checkpoint, I have only just got back less than half an hour ago, the same truck that caused the Lepto outbreak last week has returned. The Ag Department guys at the border stopped him, and I had to arrange for the cattle to be offloaded at nearby Newry Station, where they are under quarantine,” I replied.

“Wow, you have been having some dramas, so what happens now?” Marcus asked, “Well, until I give the all clear they have to stay there, with one of the station workers keeping guard over them. “Look it is after 2 pm now, so I will be able to fly there but not back, we will have to stay overnight, before I can fly back to Kununurra, unless you can wait until I am free to fly tomorrow,” I said to Marcus.

“Lets leave it till tomorrow mate, and I will see you when you get here, oh and Jessica arrived here just before lunch, and I have given her a tour of our clinic and of the town, so she is all set to start first thing tomorrow,” Marcus said to me.

“Ok mate see you sometime tomorrow, probably around noon,” I said before ending the call, and dialling Auggie’s number, “Limestone Vet Services, head vet shrink speaking,” Auggie said when he answered the call, and I just laughed. “I hope you don’t say that when you answer other business calls?” I asked, “No boss just now, as I knew that it was you calling,” Auggie replied.

I explained to him about everything that had happened today, plus what I would be doing tomorrow, with an early trip out to Newry Station, before returning to town to fly to Derby to collect Marcus, and all of his belongings. Auggie informed me that he had two local call-outs; both were for injured dogs, which he was able to handle on his own.

The rest of the day was peaceful, and after an early dinner, I retired early, since I have an early start in the morning, starting with driving 96 kilometres east into the sun to Newry Station in the NT, and I arrived shortly after 9.30 am, an hour ahead of the truck delivery.

Stopping on the other side of the road from the yards, and after putting on my overalls and gumboots, I headed towards the north end of the yards, where I saw a temporary camp set up, with a swag, and a small fireplace. Young Pete was standing near the yards carefully looking at the cattle, when I approached him. “Good Morning Dr Kendrick, another beautiful day in the outback,” he said cheerfully to me.

“That shed and cottage near my vehicle are they occupied?” I asked, “Yes, the cottage is where Mac lives, the shed is where the stock gear and his personal Ute are kept,” Pete replied.

“I see, well I have some temporary Modular buildings arriving this morning, as the Quarantine Station buildings, for your use so that you are not camping out, since it will be a week or two before the cattle can be given the all clear,” I responded.

“Good morning Dr Kendrik,” Mac said as he approached from the direction of his cottage, which has a few large trees that give it plenty of shade. “Good morning, as I was just saying to young Pete, here, I have arranged for a modular office building and bathroom block to be temporarily installed here, for Pete to use while he is on Quarantine Station duties,” I said to the head stockman.

“So this is going to be for some time then?” Mac asked, “At least one week, possibly two, since we have separated them from any other livestock, it would be shorter as they have not shown any signs of illness yet, and I will be giving all of them a vaccine this morning,” I replied.

“That is good to know, the boss is a little annoyed that you have taken away one of his station hands,” Mac said, “Has Mr Shanks told you anything about what is happening with the station?” I asked both of them.

“No, only that it is on the market, but I haven’t heard anything else since then,” Mac replied, and I groaned in annoyance.