Australia Increases Bird Flu Research

Two Australian scientists say they will lead projects announced Tuesday as part of the government’s $6.5 million bird flu research program.

University of Queensland Professor Anton Middelberg, from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, and Vivienne Tippett from the university’s School of Population Health, will look at two very different areas of avian influenza.

Funding, from Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, will go to 33 projects to help prepare Australia for any potential outbreak of bird flu during a global pandemic. The research will also investigate new treatments, preventative measures and test public health systems and interventions.

Tippett’s project will explore pre-hospital emergency medical services in containing and managing an influenza outbreak in Australia. The project will look at ways of managing and supporting responses of frontline health workers to an infectious disease outbreak.

Middelberg’s project will study simplified ways of producing mass vaccines quickly and safely in order to vaccinate all Australians as soon as possible after a dangerous strain starts to spread.