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CSIRO - World experts to tackle infectious disease threats
14 February 2011
Ref 11/10
Enhancing the world’s ability to respond to the increasing threat of emerging infectious diseases will be the focus of more than 600 international experts in human, animal and environmental health at the 1st International One Health Congress beginning today in Melbourne .
The concept of ‘One Health’ is a global strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for animals, humans and the environment.
The Chair of the Congress’ organising committee, Director of CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory Dr Martyn Jeggo, said the three-day conference provides a forum where the world’s best can debate issues critical to the fight against the threat of new diseases.
“Scientists have identified 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic – meaning they can spread from animals to people,” Dr Jeggo said.
“In recent years the world has witnessed the emergence of such diseases, including the SARS bird flu and Hendra virus. These events have heightened public awareness of the multidimensional linkages between wild animals, livestock production, the environment and global public health.
“Through cooperation and partnerships we can assist in predicting and responding to outbreaks with greater certainty and speed. This Congress and the ‘One Health’ strategy are important steps toward establishing a more unified approach to global health.
“The Congress also provides CSIRO and others in Australia with a unique opportunity to demonstrate expertise and capabilities, on a world scale, in biosecurity and all areas of One Health,” Dr Jeggosaid.
CSIRO is an integral player within the One Health arena, with world class animal bioscience, environmental management, agricultural sustainability and climate change research.
Dr Jeggo will address delegates at various times during the Congress. Other prominent speakers include: Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, Australia's Chief Medical Officer Professor Jim Bishop, World Health Organization (WHO) representative Dr Pierre Formenty and CSIRO’s Senior Research Dietitian Dr Manny Noakes
Image available at: http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/mediarelease/mr11-10.html
Further Information: |
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Dr Martyn Jeggo, CSIRO Australian Animal & Health Laboratory |
Ph: 03 5227 5160 |
Background information available at: |
(Link to Background document here) |
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Media Assistance: |
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Emma Wilkins, CSIRO Australian Animal & Health Laboratory |
Ph: 03 5227 5123 |
CSIRO - CSIRO joins global fight against pandemic threats
16 February 2011
Ref 11/12
Australian scientists are part of an international consortium creating ‘battle maps’ that visualise how bird flu and other viruses constantly mutate to camouflage their antigens, or ‘invading soldiers’, to avoid being neutralised by the immune system’s ‘artillery’.
In a collaborative effort between the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and international and Indonesian scientists, a research team from CSIRO recently used a pioneering technique known as antigenic cartography to ‘map’ the evolution of the bird flu virus.
While helping the Indonesian government protect its vast poultry flock against the deadly disease, this work also played a vital role in helping to manage the risk to Australia’s billion dollar poultry industry.
The outcomes from this technology are a major step forward in the fight against emerging infectious animal diseases, including bird flu, and the risks they pose to human health, global food security and animal health and welfare.
In address today to more than 600 delegates at the 1st International One Health Congress in Melbourne, CSIRO scientist Dr Peter Daniels, said the threat of global pandemic disease outbreaks is intensifying as the world populations of both people and farmed animals rise.
“Two of the most disruptive and potentially catastrophic threats of the last decade have been from influenza viruses that originated in animal populations – the H5N1 bird flu and the pandemic H1N1 flu that evolved in pigs,” Dr Daniels said.
”To prepare for future outbreaks we need increasing cooperation, communication and sophistication in the way the animal health sector interacts with the public health sector.”
In response, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization have joined forces to create OFFLU – a global network of expertise on animal influenzas.
According to Dr Daniels, who is Chairman of the OFFLU Executive Committee, the network offers a unique way of managing influenzas in the animal health sector while communicating directly with the public health sector.
OFFLU will play an active role in the process that the World Health Organization (WHO) use to select antigens for human influenza vaccines, similar to the ‘mapping’ work that CSIRO did to help the Indonesian government ensure poultry vaccines for bird flu are effective.
As a member of the OFFLU network, CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong is one of three laboratories around the world currently collaborating with the WHO to generate the scientific data that guide this process, to protect against the threat of H5N1 flu becoming a pandemic.
”We are aiming to keep the public health authorities up to date about the animal viruses circulating around the world, so that the WHO can determine whether their human vaccine banks remain relevant or must be restocked to keep up with the latest changes in influenza viruses, which evolve continuously,” Dr Daniels said.
CSIRO is an integral player within the One Health arena, with world class animal bioscience, environmental management, agricultural sustainability and climate change research.
Images available at: http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/mediarelease/mr11-12.html
Further Information: |
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Dr Peter Daniels, CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory
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Ph: 03 5227 5014 http://www.onehealth2011.com/ |
Media Assistance: |
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Lillian Sando, CSIRO Livestock Industries |
Mb: 0409 031 658 |
www.csiro.au |
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CSIRO - Bat immunity key to controlling deadly viruses
15 February 2011
Ref 11/15
CSIRO research into how bats can host some of the world’s deadliest viruses without suffering any ill-effects themselves will lead to improved strategies for controlling the spread of bat-borne diseases.
“CSIRO is helping to safeguard the health of Australians and livestock through a comprehensive research program that examines how bats have adapted to co-exist with some of the most deadly viruses known,” says the leader of a team of scientists at CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), in Geelong Victoria, Dr Linfa Wang.
In an address today to more than 600 delegates at the 1st International One Health Congress in Melbourne, Dr Wangsaid the aim is to better understand bat immunology and the bat virus-host interaction to identify strategies to control viruses such as Hendra virus spreading to other animals and people.
“In order to better control the spread of viruses like Hendra – from bats to horses and then on to people – it is becoming increasingly important to learn what governs the interactions between viruses and their hosts and, in particular, the phenomenon of ‘host switching’,” Dr Wang said.
“The term ‘host-switching’ is used to describe the situation where a virus spreads from an existing host to a ‘new’ host species.
“In some cases these host-switching events go unnoticed, as no disease develops in the new host, however in other situations the virus adapts to the new species and causes severe disease and in some cases death.”
Bats are known to be a key source of viruses that have been involved in host-switching incidents – including Hendra, Ebola and SARS – and appear to have developed the ability to tolerate infections with these pathogens that are otherwise fatal when spread to other mammals.
“Bats appear to have some kind of ‘viral radar’ – a highly effective immune system which provides them with broad spectrum protection against viral attack,” Dr Wang said.
“Our research will assist in developing faster, more sensitive surveillance tools that may radically change the risk management of zoonotic diseases within Australia and worldwide.
“That will mean we can move forward from just responding when an outbreak occurs, to putting pre-emergence surveillance and prevention strategies in place.”
CSIRO is an integral player within the One Health arena, with world class animal bioscience, environmental management, agricultural sustainability and climate change research.
Images available at: http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/mediarelease/mr11-15.html
Further Information: |
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Dr Linfa Wang, CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory Background information available at: |
Ph: 03 5227 5121 |
Media Assistance: |
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Emma Wilkins, CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory |
Ph: 03 5227 5123 |
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