Dr Jackie Benschop from Massey University’s Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory was interviewed by Radio New Zealand yesterday about the recent rise of leptospirosis cases reported in urban areas.   Read the full article on the Radio New Zealand website.

The first announcement of speakers invited to speak at the 3rd One Health Aotearoa Symposium has been made. The Symposium Organising Committee has been working hard to bring together a diverse line up of speakers to present in December. The symposium aim is to bring together infectious diseases scientists and professionals from the fields of…

Associate Professor David Hayman from the Infectious Diseases Research Centre at Massey University has been awarded one of the 10 highly sought-after Rutherford Discovery Fellowships announced by New Zealand’s Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith. Associate Professor Hayman’s research will focus on animal infectious diseases that can naturally transfer to humans, known as ‘zoonoses’. Well…

Our Spring 2017 newsletter announces that early bird registration for our 3rd Symposium is now open, launches our website, highlights the Webster Centre for Infectious Diseases and re-caps the launch of One Health Aotearoa as a flagship University of Otago Research Centre.   View the OHA Spring 2017 newsletter

Research by the University of Otago, Wellington, has found that influenza kills about 500 New Zealanders each year, making it probably New Zealand’s biggest single infectious disease killer. The study, published in the Journal of Infection based on work by Dr Trang Khieu as part of her PhD, found the risk of premature death is…

Our third One Health Aotearoa Symposium will be held on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 December 2017 in the Nordmeyer Theatre at the University of Otago, Wellington. This symposium brings together infectious diseases scientists and professionals from the fields of human, animal, and environmental health in order to address priority infectious diseases issues such as…

The University of Otago formally launched its reconfigured line-up of 12 flagship research centres, including One Health Aotearoa, this week at an event during which each centre concisely showcased its often world-leading activities. The reconfiguration of the centres took place after a rigorous evaluation process that confirmed the breadth and excellence of research that will…

It may sometimes make sense for island nations like New Zealand to temporarily close their borders in extreme pandemic situations, a new study by Wellington researchers suggests. The study of costs and benefits of complete border closure in New Zealand in response to new pandemic threats has just been published in the international journal PLoS ONE.…

Washing hands after using compost could protect gardeners from contracting a common but dangerous strain of Legionnaire’s disease, new University of Otago research shows. The study results, recently published in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, provide the first New Zealand confirmation of the link between compost or potting mix and contracting the form of pneumonia. Legionella longbeachae…

Massey University researchers have found that a strain of leptospirosis may be more frequent in New Zealand dairy herds than first thought, posing public health concerns for farmers, veterinarians and dairy workers. The study was the first to explore the effect of long-term vaccination in a nationally representative sample. Two hundred dairy herds randomly selected from…