Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24843871-12377,00.html
New diseases threaten Australia - study
December 26, 2008
NORTHERN Australia is surrounded by a "ring of fire" where new human and animal plagues are likely to erupt without warning, a biosecurity research group says.
A study by the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre for Emerging Infectious Disease (AB-CRC) shows global disease hot-spots, where new and unknown plagues are most likely to erupt, spread in an arc to Australia's north.
"We're in the front line for outbreaks of diseases like SARS, bird flu, Nipah virus, enterovirus 71 and chikungunya which infect both people and animals. Such diseases are most likely to emerge in our region," AB-CRC chief executive Dr Stephen Prowse said.
"The study highlights the vital importance of developing and maintaining effective disease surveillance in our region as often the only defence against a new disease is to spot it early, before it spreads."
"However it also offers scope to anticipate where new plagues could arise."
The study of global disease hotspots was carried out by Dr Peter Daszak and colleagues of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine in New York, a partner of the AB-CRC.
"We've developed an earthquake zone map for emerging diseases. It shows which countries are most likely to be on the front line of an emerging pandemic."
"We now have a way to predict the places from where the next HIV, SARS or avian influenza is likely to emerge," Dr Daszak said.
He said a risk map showed Australia was surrounded to the north by countries that were disease hot-spots.
"This means Australia needs to be forward thinking in its approach to biosecurity risk.
"New and emerging diseases rarely have any form of treatment and death rates can be quite high as in the case of Nipah virus which kills about half of those who contract it," he said.
"The best course is to stamp out the bushfire before it takes hold and spreads."
He said old pestilence are re-emerging, like bluetongue in Europe, rabies in Bali, and foot-and-mouth disease in many regions of South-East Asia.
In June, five horses died and another three were put down after the Hendra virus broke out in Queensland.
Dr Prowse said koalas are being wiped out in record numbers by a new retrovirus.
New diseases threaten Australia - study
December 26, 2008
NORTHERN Australia is surrounded by a "ring of fire" where new human and animal plagues are likely to erupt without warning, a biosecurity research group says.
A study by the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre for Emerging Infectious Disease (AB-CRC) shows global disease hot-spots, where new and unknown plagues are most likely to erupt, spread in an arc to Australia's north.
"We're in the front line for outbreaks of diseases like SARS, bird flu, Nipah virus, enterovirus 71 and chikungunya which infect both people and animals. Such diseases are most likely to emerge in our region," AB-CRC chief executive Dr Stephen Prowse said.
"The study highlights the vital importance of developing and maintaining effective disease surveillance in our region as often the only defence against a new disease is to spot it early, before it spreads."
"However it also offers scope to anticipate where new plagues could arise."
The study of global disease hotspots was carried out by Dr Peter Daszak and colleagues of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine in New York, a partner of the AB-CRC.
"We've developed an earthquake zone map for emerging diseases. It shows which countries are most likely to be on the front line of an emerging pandemic."
"We now have a way to predict the places from where the next HIV, SARS or avian influenza is likely to emerge," Dr Daszak said.
He said a risk map showed Australia was surrounded to the north by countries that were disease hot-spots.
"This means Australia needs to be forward thinking in its approach to biosecurity risk.
"New and emerging diseases rarely have any form of treatment and death rates can be quite high as in the case of Nipah virus which kills about half of those who contract it," he said.
"The best course is to stamp out the bushfire before it takes hold and spreads."
He said old pestilence are re-emerging, like bluetongue in Europe, rabies in Bali, and foot-and-mouth disease in many regions of South-East Asia.
In June, five horses died and another three were put down after the Hendra virus broke out in Queensland.
Dr Prowse said koalas are being wiped out in record numbers by a new retrovirus.