Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Health's Centre for Disease Control Director Vicki Krause says Territorians are at an increased risk of animal borne diseases this wet season

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NT Health's Centre for Disease Control Director Vicki Krause says Territorians are at an increased risk of animal borne diseases this wet season · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: And we know that right now Territorians are being warned
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  Speaker 1: about an increased risk of animal born diseases this wet season.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us more
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  Speaker 1: about these diseases and what we can do in an
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  Speaker 1: effort to protect ourselves, it is the Department of HEALTHS
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  Speaker 1: Director of the Northern Territory Health Center for Disease Control,
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  Speaker 1: Vicky Krass. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, good morning, Vicky, Thanks so much for your time
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  Speaker 2: this morning.
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  Speaker 1: And I tell you what a couple of these diseases
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  Speaker 1: I can't even pronounce. So what are they exactly, Vicky?
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  Speaker 2: Right, Well, we'll get the pronunctensions out there. We're talking
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  Speaker 2: lonely about leptospirosis and about brucellosis, and particularly about leptos roses.
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  Speaker 2: And these come under the category of diseases called zooanoses,
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  Speaker 2: which means that they can be transmitted from animals. So
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  Speaker 2: that's what we're talking about. There's sort of a warning
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  Speaker 2: out there about those that work with our animals, are
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  Speaker 2: interact where animals have been and tramp around in water
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  Speaker 2: rays where animals have been, that these are two diseases
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  Speaker 2: that they should be aware of and that certainly have
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  Speaker 2: been reported in the territory Jichi lepto.
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  Speaker 1: I know that it's it is a disease that probably
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  Speaker 1: some have heard about because we get our usually our
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  Speaker 1: dogs get needles for lepto, don't they.
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  Speaker 2: That's correct, that you can that animals can get vaccines
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  Speaker 2: for leptospirosis, but humans can't, and so there aren't vaccines
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  Speaker 2: for them. So basically most animals, however, who have leptosaurosis
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  Speaker 2: don't get vaccine, particularly rats. So hence the widespread dissemination
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  Speaker 2: of that bacteria that causes leptospirosis, particularly in the rat population,
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  Speaker 2: of which we have a very large rat population. If
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  Speaker 2: you go out to fog down or and you know
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  Speaker 2: there's those thousands of rats and in our environment, and
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  Speaker 2: it's in the urine of rets and the urine of
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  Speaker 2: other animals, cattle, that's you know, many other animals that
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't be vaccinated. Yeah, right, can be, but it's not
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  Speaker 2: that efficient or effect or efficient really too, and it
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  Speaker 2: has to be done yearly. So that's not yet the
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  Speaker 2: the way that this will be controlled at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: So people just have to be aware.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so Vicky, how like, what do you need
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  Speaker 1: to do to make sure that you are sort of
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  Speaker 1: covered or that you don't you know that you protect yourself.
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  Speaker 2: I guess, yeah, well that's right. So it's as we said,
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  Speaker 2: it's transmitted from animals. So it's really we're targeting towards
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  Speaker 2: people who interact with animals. So if you're working any
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  Speaker 2: kind of husbandry, you're working with cattle, you're working out
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  Speaker 2: amongst you know, in farmlands and low lying wetlands for farming,
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  Speaker 2: then you're probably at risk because animals also go with
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  Speaker 2: that area and therefore and urinate and so that it
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  Speaker 2: becomes contaminated. Also, if you're just an active outdoors person
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  Speaker 2: you go out camping a lot, go out bushwalking a lot,
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  Speaker 2: and particularly again we're talking about the wet season, then
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  Speaker 2: you're more at risk. So that those are the people
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  Speaker 2: that we're concerned about who put themselves more at risk.
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  Speaker 2: And so you just really have to know that this
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  Speaker 2: bacteria really can pass through any membranes in your body,
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  Speaker 2: so your nose, your eyes, your mouth, your throat, your hands,
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  Speaker 2: if you have cuts or legs, if you have cuts
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  Speaker 2: or sores on them. So it's really keeping yourself as
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  Speaker 2: healthy as possible and not and keeping yourself as clean
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  Speaker 2: as possible, So it's really good hygiene, especially when you're
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  Speaker 2: in muddy situations where animals also are.
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  Speaker 1: And so about the brucellosis, how is it similar to
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  Speaker 1: lipto or is it a bit different.
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  Speaker 2: It's a bit different and it's much less common. And
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  Speaker 2: for many years we have thought we did not have rucellosis.
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  Speaker 2: In the church. People will have heard of brucellosis a
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  Speaker 2: different type of brucelet from years ago. Really old timers
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  Speaker 2: will remember the b Tech program with the brucellosis and
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  Speaker 2: tuberculosis eradication campaign which got rid of that one type
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  Speaker 2: of brucellosis. But the brucellosis we're talking about here is
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  Speaker 2: one that is found in pigs particularly and dogs, particularly
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  Speaker 2: pig dogs. So this is in the felt to be
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  Speaker 2: possibly in the feral pig population. It certainly is in
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  Speaker 2: Queensland and in northern New South Wales. We haven't thought
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  Speaker 2: that it was in the territory. But last year there
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  Speaker 2: was one case in a feral pig that was slaughtered
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  Speaker 2: and eaten and eaten possibly not fully cooked, and a
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  Speaker 2: young person did have brucellosis. So it makes us think, yes,
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  Speaker 2: it is here, and so people who do interact with pig,
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  Speaker 2: the feral pig population need to be aware of it,
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  Speaker 2: need to protect themselves pretty much the same way that
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  Speaker 2: I said membranes. If you're going to go out hunting,
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  Speaker 2: make sure you wear the right clothing, the right boots,
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  Speaker 2: You cover yourself. If you're going to be cutting up animals,
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  Speaker 2: that you do that with gloves and glasses, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: you keep yourself protected from the bodily fluids of the animal.
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  Speaker 2: And also if you're going to cook it, that you
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  Speaker 2: cook it properly and fully, and also that you don't
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  Speaker 2: offer uncooked or no cooked meat to your dogs, because
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  Speaker 2: then you can get the dogs infected as well. So
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  Speaker 2: that's really important to be aware of.
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  Speaker 1: And vicky with the well, I mean with both of these,
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  Speaker 1: but particularly with the lipto. Are there increased numbers or
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  Speaker 1: have we seen people contracting it in the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: in recent weeks or months?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well we have, and hence the alert here in
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  Speaker 2: that in most years we get either no cases or
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  Speaker 2: maybe up to four cases in a year, but last
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  Speaker 2: year we had thirteen or fourteen cases actually in the end,
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  Speaker 2: and this year already we've had six cases and today
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  Speaker 2: we have another one we're working up which would be
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  Speaker 2: the seventh case, So we are seeing an increased number
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  Speaker 2: of cases and this would be over the last couple
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  Speaker 2: of months in the wet season. So we're just really
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  Speaker 2: there's a shout out there to make people aware that
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  Speaker 2: they need to take care if they're out and around
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  Speaker 2: in the wetlands, if they're in amongst animals or working
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  Speaker 2: with animals that they have, you know, it's really important
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  Speaker 2: that they'd be aware of this disease. I might just
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  Speaker 2: mention how does it present? How would you know that
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  Speaker 2: you get it? It presents somewhat like a flu, but
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  Speaker 2: you usually get a bad headache, you have terrible muscle aches,
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  Speaker 2: you get fever, and so if you have been out
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  Speaker 2: and about and you get fever, you have aches and pains,
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  Speaker 2: then getting along to see a doctor is really important
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  Speaker 2: and tell them where you've been. It's very treatable, but
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  Speaker 2: it also can be severe if not treated. So it's
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  Speaker 2: just an important disease entity to know about.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness may I mean, there's always so much that we've
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  Speaker 1: got to know about in the Northern Territory, but when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to some of these different diseases, it must
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  Speaker 1: make your job very fascinating.
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  Speaker 2: Vicky. Well, it does take it beyond COVID at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: which is very good. And I was just gonna say
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  Speaker 2: about it. The hunting is the other thing, because we
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  Speaker 2: do have a lot of hunters up here. So I've
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  Speaker 2: talked about the pig hunting and all that, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: we do also have turtle hunting and ducking goose hunters,
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  Speaker 2: and we also have crocodile egg hunters and for a
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  Speaker 2: while they were our standout crew who who tended to
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  Speaker 2: get leapto so right. I always thought the mother crocodile
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  Speaker 2: was more of a risk. Certainly, if you're out and
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  Speaker 2: about hunting, that's a risk as well.
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  Speaker 1: Oh goodness, may well, I tell you what, Like I said,
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  Speaker 1: very interesting, it's not just those midgies and things that
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  Speaker 1: you've got to be worried about, or even about the
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  Speaker 1: animals being dangerous, all the different things that you can contract, VICKI,
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  Speaker 1: if there is anybody out there listening who wants a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more information, are they able to jump on.
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming that the Center for Disease Control or even
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  Speaker 1: the Department of Health has probably got a bit more
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  Speaker 1: information online as well.
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  Speaker 2: They do, they can go on and get a fact
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  Speaker 2: sheet either from the Department of Health or from the
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  Speaker 2: Department of from the vets of the I T T industry,
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  Speaker 2: tourism and trade, so from both angles, the animal angle
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  Speaker 2: and the human health angle. There's information on the web well.
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Health Director of the Center for Disease Controlled,
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  Speaker 1: doctor Vicki Krauss. It is always fascinating to speak to you.
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  Speaker 1: I enjoy our chats. Thank you very much for having
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  Speaker 1: a chat with me this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.