Bats have been the reservoir for recent disease outbreaks, including SARS and the current COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s human activity that allows the virus to cross over.
A veterinarian about to administer the Hendra virus vaccine.
Kathrin Schemann
Bats can carry some of the deadliest diseases known to affect humans and yet they don’t seem to get sick. So what can we learn from a bat’s immune system?
An historian reading the government White Paper on developing northern Australia will realise we’re actually heading all the way back to the 1890s.
andrew matthews/Flickr
The federal government’s recent White Paper on developing northern Australia has disturbing echoes of the 1890s, a time when unbridled capitalism and indentured labour developed the North.
It’s unclear whether Spanish dog Excalibur, pictured here with owner Javier Limon (husband of Ebola-infected nurse Teresa Ramos), was infected.
EFE/PACMA
Spanish authorities have euthanised the dog of Madrid nurse Teresa Romero Ramos, who contracted Ebola. The 12-year-old dog, Excalibur, was not showing symptoms and was not tested for Ebola. But he lived…
Prize winner Lesley Hughes was praised for her work on explaining climate change.
Flickr/Climate Commission
An ecologist’s work to explain the impact of climate change to as wide an audience as possible has been awarded one of this year’s Eureka Prizes. The annual Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, announced Wednesday…
The global focus on emerging infectious disease has turned to bats since they were identified as the probable source of SARS.
Toby Mann
The last 30 years have seen a rise in emerging infectious diseases in humans, of which more than 70% are zoonotic. Zoonoses are diseases that normally exist in animals but have the potential to transmit…
Scientists worked with Hendra virus at the highest level of biosafety within CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory.
CSIRO
Today we are launching Equivac® HeV, the world’s first commercially available Hendra vaccine for horses. This breakthrough is the culmination of a scientific journey that dates back to the emergence of…
The new Cedar virus is similar to Hendra and Nipah viruses but it does not cause illness in humans or animals.
AAP
Scientists have identified a new virus in Australian fruit bats. The Cedar virus – named after the suburb in the Gold Coast hinterland where it was first discovered – is part of the henipavirus family…
Viruses passed from animals to humans pose a risk in Asia and Australia.
EPA/John Footy
AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government. Here, Professor Martyn Jeggo looks…
Bats appear have a much better symbiotic relationship with viruses than other mammal species.
CSIRO
In the Chinese zodiac, 2011 is the year of the rabbit but for those of us working on viruses from wildlife animals, it was much more like the year of the bat. In February, the deadly Nipah virus re-emerged…
Even Australia’s most iconic, charismatic species are in danger of extinction. Species such as the cassowary, Tasmanian devil and koala all enjoy significant community support and relatively generous funding…
Fruit bats carry disease, pollen and a warning about the state of the environment.
shellac/Flickr
This year has had the lot. First came the tempest, then the floods. Fires are on their way as the landscape dries out. Now we have pestilence, in the form of Hendra virus. Calls for bat culls have ensued…
Emergency medicine specialist Chris Baggoley has been appointed Australia’s new Chief Medical Officer, after acting in the role since April. The Chief Medical Officer works out of the Department of Health…