Mothers and infants in the Wellington region are set to play an important role in global research to develop a universal flu vaccine. ESR researchers are currently seeking pregnant women in Wellington to participate in the study to see how their child’s first exposure to the flu virus, influences their immune response throughout life. The…

Freshwater ecologist Professor Russell Death was written a piece for The Spinoff this week explaining that if New Zealand wants to assure export and tourism markets that we are actually a clean sustainable country, then we actually have to prove it. Russell is a member of the One Health Aotearoa Management Group and co-leads our…

New Zealand, Australia and Iceland could act as island refuges to save humanity from extinction in the event of a catastrophic global pandemic, researchers have found. The researchers, from the University of Otago, Wellington and Adapt Research, have ranked 20 island nations which could act as refuges from which large-scale technological society could be rebuilt.…

A scientist leading a study on the effects of microplastics in the New Zealand environment is welcoming calls for a further assessment of their potential impacts on human health. ESR Scientist Olga Pantos was responding to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report identifying the presence of microplastics in drinking water and calling for further…

Our winter 2019 newsletter includes the announcement of the plenary and invited speakers for the 5th One Health Aotearoa Symposium in December and introduces the new Webster Family Chair in Viral Pathogenesis. View the One Health Aotearoa Winter 2019 newsletter.

New research about an old vaccine – one that has been in use for nearly 100 years – has not only shown how effective it is but also suggests it improves our immune response to a wider range of bacteria than originally intended. BCG, Bacille Calmette-Guerin, has been used for TB vaccination since 1921. A…

New Zealand children will play an important role in the next major global research on human immunity to influenza. This country and ESR have been selected by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a US$3 million research project on how first exposure to flu viruses shapes immunity to flu throughout life. ESR Chief…

The first New Zealand-wide study of the burden of Legionnaires’ disease has found triple the number of cases of this form of pneumonia than previously reported. The study, led by One Health Aotearoa Co-director Professor David Murdoch based at the University of Otago, Christchurch, has just been published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases. It gives the…

One Health Aotearoa Co-director Nigel French has co-written an article about yersinia which featured in Stuff’s Catalyst section this week. The article discusses the rise of yesinioisis among humans and animals. Read the article: Yersinia infection still a mystery after 2014 outbreak in NZ

Our Autumn 2019 newsletter announces the dates of the 5th One Health Aotearoa Symposium and highlights the research of ESR’s groundwater research group.   View the One Health Aotearoa Autumn 2019 newsletter.