Science Media Centre

An article in the New Zealand Herald reports on the results of a Kleenex-commissioned survey of the hygiene of Kiwis, featuring virus experts Dr Sue Huang from ESR and Dr Lance Jennings from Christchurch Hospital (who is an official supporter of the Kleenex Sneeze Safe campaign). An excerpt (read in full here): NZ sniffle hygiene is [...]

The number of flu cases recorded in Auckland city are higher than would be expected, according to the latest data from an in depth study of influenza in New Zealand. The Southern Hemisphere Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Research and Surveillance (SHIVERS) study started last year, and aims to provide closer monitoring of influenza cases in New [...]

Tauranga and Middlemore hospitals are on alert following outbreaks of the gastrointestinal bug norovirus over the weekend. A number of cases among staff and patients were reported at both hospitals on Sunday. Health officials suspected the virus was coming in with patients from the community and urged visitors to wash hands and stay away if [...]

A new livestock virus spreading across Europe and panicking farmers in the Norther Hemisphere is unlikely to reach New Zealand shores. The Schmallenberg virus, named after German region where the its was first detected, causes fetal congenital malformations and stillbirths in cattle, sheep, and goats. Spread by the Culicoides midge species, the virus was first identified [...]

This fact sheet was produced by the SMC UK to give journalists a background on the Schmallenberg virus currently affecting livestock in the UK and Europe. Background Schmallenberg virus, aka SBV, is an emerging livestock disease that has been detected in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the UK. Outbreaks of disease in [...]

Scientists seeking to publish highly controversial studies on the avian influenza virus H5N1 have agreed to remove key details from manuscripts describing their work following requests from the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSSAB). This effective censorship of scientific research – including potential to create airborne contagions – has sparked debate over the [...]

Why do some people die from the flu and others don’t? New Zealand researchers have been awarded a grant from the US government to find out. Researchers from Environment Science and research (ESR), the University of Auckland the University of Otago have won a $9 million grant from the Unites States Centers for Disease Control [...]

Scientists are cautiously optimistic about a trial cancer therapy which uses a virus to selectively kill tumor cells. Canadian researchers have completed the first clinical trial in which viral therapy is delivered to cancer patients intravenously, and the virus selectively replicates only within tumour cells. The trial, published in Nature this week, show promising results. [...]

Barbara Docherty writes in Sunday News about the highly dangerous disease meningitis, how to spot the symptoms, and what the best options for prevention are. While sensible precautions such as regularly washing one’s hands and a healthy diet certainly help, the best means of preventing the viral form of the disease is vaccination, particularly in [...]

Kiran Chug writes in the Dominion Post about concerns over whether Sirocco the kakapo should be allowed to continue his visits back to a kakapo sanctuary island. A new untreatable strain of a beak and feather virus has been  found in native parrots, and scientists are worried that the disease might spread to Sirocco and, [...]