Healthy animals and healthy people

“Zoonotic diseases are a huge global health problem – it is estimated that around 75 per cent of diseases – including AIDS and SARS which have emerged to infect humans in recent decades, have come from animals,” said Professor Wilks.

“Anyone in close contact with animals – such as farmers and veterinarians, is at a higher risk of contracting such diseases, but some diseases can also spread very easily through indirect human contact with infected animal products like unpasteurised milk.”

When there is a potential outbreak or problem detected, Professor Wilks heads straight to the area and works with the local citizens and government to develop global programs to enhance veterinary services and management techniques.

“The focus is to raise the level of understanding in the local community on how best to prevent and manage outbreaks – and this largely involves screening the animals for diseases,” Professor Wilks says.

“We help the community to develop preparedness plans so they are ready to fight any outbreaks.”

Most of his work for the UN has focused on the control of avian influenza, or bird flu, which has been recognised as a highly lethal viral disease of birds since the mid 1900s.

Avian flu has been around for a long time and has proved difficult to eradicate, according to Professor Wilks. “One particular strain of avian influenza virus has acquired the ability to spread directly from poultry to humans, killing about 50 per cent of those it infects,” he said.

“We are therefore working to better understand the disease process in birds because protecting the animals from the disease is step one in controlling infection in people.”

Prior to his work with the UN, Professor Wilks was involved in some of Australia’s most significant eradications of diseases through his work with the Department of Agriculture in Victoria.

Professor Wilks played an instrumental role in a coordinated national program to eradicate the dangerous zoonotic diseases brucellosis and tuberculosis from all cattle in Australia.

“During the 1930s about 25 per cent of tuberculosis in children was caused by the cattle organism,” Professor Wilks said.

“After decades of hard work, brucellosis was confirmed eradicated in 1989 and bovine tuberculosis was declared eradicated in November 2006 in Australia.”

Professor Wilks was trained as a veterinarian at the University of Melbourne and returned to teach in 1999 to develop a new Global Program for Veterinary Public Health at the Faculty of Veterinary Science.

“The program is designed to highlight the significance of animal health globally and the connection between animal and human health,” Professor Wilks said.

“I am hoping that over my years of teaching I have instilled some interest in veterinary public health so Australia’s future vets will think ‘big picture’.”

See: www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/researcher/person3413.html