Biosecurity Archives - Page 3 of 5

Health

African cassava whitefly: getting to the root of the problem

The African Cassava whitefly is affecting the food security of more than 40 million African families. Find out how our scientists are using their expertise to assist East African scientists control this pest.

Health

New weapon against deadly Hendra virus

As Brisbane researchers prepare to commence human trials of an antibody treatment for Hendra virus, we look back at our role in identifying this deadly virus 21 years ago, our involvement in developing a vaccine for horses, and the global collaboration to find a treatment for people affected by the virus.

Staying MouseAlert, not MouseAlarmed, this Christmas

With unusually high numbers of mouse sightings in Victoria this spring, CSIRO ecologist Peter Brown and colleagues at various Australian and New Zealand research agencies are monitoring mouse populations

Go with the grain: technology to help farmers protect crops

By Paul De Barro, CSIRO and Grant Smith, Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre New technology to tackle biosecurity challenges down the track is one of the five megatrends identified in today’s CSIRO report Australia’s Biosecurity Future: preparing for future biological challenges. As manpower in the agriculture and biosecurity sectors declines, we must look to...

Australian farmers face increasing risk of new diseases: report

By Gary Fitt, CSIRO A nationwide outbreak of foot and mouth disease; an invasion of a devastating wheat disease; our honeybees completely wiped out. These are just three possible disastrous scenarios facing Australia; they’re considered in the Australia’s Biosecurity Future report published today by CSIRO and its partners. Intensifying and expanding agriculture, biodiversity loss, and...

Bees backpacking in Brazil

By Emma Pyers How do bees in the Amazon jungle compare to those in Tasmania? They get up earlier, for a start. Paulo de Souza and his team have been tracking bees in the two regions using tiny backpack sensors as part of our Swarm Sensing Project to gather biological and ecological data to improve...

Health

Genetic evolution: how the Ebola virus changes and adapts

By Glenn Marsh, CSIRO The current outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa is unprecedented in size, with nearly 4,800 confirmed or probable cases and more than 2,400 deaths. People have been infected in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. The World Health Organization declared this outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”...

Health

Fast-tracking access to experimental Ebola drugs

By Glenn Marsh, CSIRO The current outbreak of Zaire Ebola virus in Western Africa is the largest ever recorded. More than 1800 people have been infected and nearly 1000 people have died. But while drug therapies are close to being available, they may not be ready in time for the current outbreak, even if safety...

Watch-bees on the job

How much are bees worth to you? Well, did you know they earn an estimated $4-$6B for Australia every year? Another way to look at it is – what price would you place on cashews, almonds, macadamias, strawberries and avocadoes? Among many others, these crops rely on bees for pollination. In fact, around one in...

Health

Ebola outbreak causes global concern

The World Health Organization has confirmed the current outbreak of Ebola virus in Africa is the largest recorded outbreak, killing 672 of the 1201 confirmed cases since February this year. So it’s no surprise that there’s increasing global concern about the spread of this virus – the situation is undeniably scary. Here’s what you need...

Mite as well call Australia home – the immigration success story of the redlegged earth mite

By Adam Harper Whenever communities emigrate from far away, they do their best to adapt and succeed in their new environment. Some groups succeed better than others. One population of Australian immigrants has been particularly good at adapting – the rather aptly named Halotydeus destructor, more commonly known as the redlegged earth mite (RLEM...

Explainer: Varroa mite, the tiny killer threatening Australia’s bees

A tiny mite has been killing honey bees all around the world, and will inevitably reach Australian shores. So what is this destructive mite, and what we can do to protect Australian honey bees? The Varroa mite, also known as Varroa destructor, is only the size of a pin head but it is the most...

Biosecurity