News & events

The burden of human leptospirosis in New Zealand was discussed at a forum in Wellington last week as part of a Massey University-led nationwide case-control study to identify risk factors. A common workplace hazard in the agricultural sector, the disease can cause disease and death in animals, and can transfer to humans causing hospital admissions ...

There’s just six weeks until the 5th One Health Aotearoa Symposium in Wellington on 10-11 December. The OHA Symposium Organising Committee is excited to release the preliminary programme which covers the big One Health issues affecting New Zealand and further afield. The symposium features nine sessions including a poster session on the evening of 10 December. ...

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 ...