Centre for Tropical Health and Emerging Diseases

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Centre for Tropical Health and Emerging Diseases

We are a collaborative research centre for tropical health.

Our goal is to unite and empower researchers across the Asia Pacific region to foster strategic partnerships that improve the health and wellbeing of communities living in the tropics.

03/09/2026

What could climate change mean for Japanese encephalitis in Australia?

Japanese encephalitis (JEV) is a mosquito-borne disease that became a major concern in Australia following outbreaks in southern states in 2022.

But how might climate change affect the animals and mosquitoes involved in the JEV cycle?

New research from our member Roslyn Hickson has mapped the likely distribution of mosquitoes, waterbirds and feral pigs across Australia and explored how these patterns could change by 2050 and 2090 under different climate scenarios.

The key findings:
- Areas currently considered suitable for the JEV cycle are likely to remain important in the future, particularly along parts of Australia's northern and eastern coastlines.
- The study also identified potential increases in suitability in some northern areas and decreases in parts of southern and western Australia.

The findings highlight why continued surveillance — and a One Health approach that considers people, animals and the environment together — will be important as Australia's climate changes.

Read the full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954126003067?pes=vor&utm_source=scopus&getft_integrator=scopus

27/08/2026

🌟 Final Paper in Our Malaria Awareness Week Research Series! 🌟

Mosquito vs bed net + livestock... what if farm animals held the missing key to stopping malaria?

Bed nets (Insecticide-Treated Nets) protect us while we sleep inside our houses, but what about those mosquitoes that prefer the outdoors and early evening, and the ones feeding on cattle?

That’s where One Health comes in:
1️⃣ PUSH: Bed nets push mosquitoes away from human beds.
2️⃣ PULL: Nearby livestock naturally attract roaming mosquitoes.
3️⃣ PROTECT: Treating livestock with safe anti-parasite medicine turns animals into deadly mosquito traps—protecting humans while keeping livestock healthy! 🌾🐄

By bringing human medicine and veterinary science together, we can tackle outdoor malaria transmission and support rural farming communities at the same time.

📖 Read the full open-access paper: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13339164/

💡 Swipe through the carousel deck to see how it works! 👉️

26/08/2026

Post 4/5 of our 5-day Malaria Research Series 🦟🧬

Can a standard, widely available drug like paracetamol help protect the kidneys during severe malaria?

In our latest breakdown, we dive into new population modeling analyzing data from 372 Malaysian patients in the landmark PACKNOW trial.

Key Findings:

1️⃣ Kidney protection: Higher paracetamol exposure was directly linked to a faster decline in serum creatinine—mitigating hemoglobin-induced oxidative renal damage.

2️⃣ Antipyretic Benefit: Higher exposure significantly accelerated fever clearance times.

3️⃣ Reassuring Safety Profile: No association with liver toxicity or serious adverse events

This research reinforces the role of regular paracetamol dosing as an accessible adjunctive therapy for renal protection in patients with severe knowlesi malaria and high hemolytic burden!

See the research here: https://ascpt.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/psp4.70283

25/08/2026

Continuing our 5-day Malaria Research Series (Post 3/5)! 🦟🧬

Did you know that a common, silent virus sitting latent in your body could reshape how your immune system fights off malaria?

A study published in PLOS Pathogens investigated how latent Cytomegalovirus (CMV) disrupts innate immune responses during the first time people are infected with Plasmodium falciparum.

Here are the key findings from Controlled Human Malaria Infection trials:
🧬 Attenuated Natural Kill (NK) cell Activation: Latent CMV infection dampens the transcriptional activation and response of NK cells exposed to malaria parasites.
🔬 Upstream Signal Suppression: Cells in CMV-positive individuals produce less of a critical signaling molecule needed to trigger full NK cell activation.
📉 Impact on Parasite Control: NK cell cytotoxicity is needed for parasite control. It is a protective barrier that becomes compromised in CMV-positive hosts.

Why does this matter? In many malaria-endemic areas, latent CMV prevalence is near 100%. Understanding how baseline viral co-infections shape malaria immunity is essential for designing better vaccines and treatments!

SWIPE through the slides to see the study broken down.

🔗 Full Study: https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1014372

24/08/2026

Continuing our 5-day Malaria Awareness Series following World Mosquito Day (Post 2/5)! 🦟🔬

Did you know that malaria parasites have their own viruses?

A fascinating study published in Virus Evolution mapped the global spread and host specificity of Matryoshka RNA virus 1 (MaRNAV-1), an RNA virus that lives inside Plasmodium vivax.

Here are the key takeaways from the study:

🪆Nested Biology: Discovered in 2019, MaRNAV-1 is a bi-segmented RNA virus that infects the parasite that infects humans; a real-life biological nesting doll!

🌍 Global Footprint: Metatranscriptomic mapping revealed MaRNAV-1 across Southeast Asia, South America, and newly detected in Oceania, likely originating in Southeast Asia.

🤝 Exclusive Partnership: MaRNAV-1 was detected strictly in P. vivax metatranscriptomes, pointing to a specialized co-evolutionary relationship.

Understanding these cryptic virus-parasite interactions could unlock entirely new perspectives on P. vivax biology and clinical manifestations!

SWIPE through the slides to see the science broken down.

🔗 Full Study: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13271372/

23/08/2026

Following up on World Mosquito Day, we’re keeping the momentum going!

🦟 This week, we will be sharing 5 dedicated posts about malaria—covering prevention, new research, global efforts, immunology, and vector control strategies.

To kick things off (Post 1/5), we are looking at a recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in Infectious Diseases examining the global impact of Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs) on malaria incidence and mortality.

Key Takeaways from 25 Randomized Controlled Trials:

📉 Significant Incidence Drops: ITNs reduced malaria incidence by 68% in Asia and between 29%–40% in Africa.
🛡️ Life-Saving Protection: Studies demonstrated up to an 18% reduction in malaria-related mortality.
🌍 Context Matters: Differences in local ecology, mosquito behavior, and implementation mean vector control strategies must adapt regionally for maximum impact.

SWIPE through the slides to see the data breakdown!

🔗 Full Study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23744235.2026.2666823?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

21/08/2026

🌴 Tropical Shirt Day has arrived!

Behind every bright shirt is a serious task: supporting research that tackles tropical and emerging infectious diseases, done by Centre for Tropical Health and Emerging Diseases.

Our researchers are working to improve health outcomes for vulnerable communities and prepare for future health threats. Together, we can help turn research into real-world impact.

💛 Make a donation today: https://donate.qimrb.edu.au/tropical-shirt-day-2026

20/08/2026

Yesterday, CTHED researchers joined the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Symposium to share their work across a diverse range of tropical and emerging infectious disease research.

Our researchers presented on:
🦟 A/Prof Gordana Rasic — community-embedded genomic surveillance for mosquito-borne disease threats
🌏 A/Prof Leon Hugo — climate suitability and transmission risk of Japanese encephalitis virus in Australia
🧬 Dr Carla Vieira — spatial gene expression in Aedes aegypti to better understand flavivirus transmission
🧪 Prof Katja Fischer — diagnostics and therapeutics for scabies
🧫 Dr Jessica Engel — CD4+ T cell differentiation during parasitic infections

A/Prof Leon Hugo also contributed to the Policy & Translation Forum on preventing Aedes aegypti re-establishment and associated dengue transmission in Brisbane, bringing research perspectives into discussions around prevention and policy.

From mosquito-borne diseases and climate risk to scabies and parasitic infections, the presentations showcased the breadth of research being undertaken across CTHED, and the importance of translating research into practical solutions for infectious disease prevention and control.

Congratulations to all our researchers for sharing their work at AID 2026!

19/08/2026

What does “disease burden” actually mean?

When we talk about the burden of a disease, we're not simply counting how many people become infected.

Researchers look at a combination of measures—including new cases, deaths, disability, years of healthy life lost, and which populations and regions are most affected.

Two recent publications demonstrate why this matters:

Tuberculosis: A new Global Burden of Disease analysis estimated 9.11 million new TB cases, 1.22 million deaths and 54.6 million DALYs globally in 2023. The study also examined the contribution of HIV, multidrug-resistant TB and modifiable risk factors (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309926002951?pes=vor&utm_source=scopus&getft_integrator=scopus).

Leptospirosis: In the Caribbean, gaps in surveillance make the true burden harder to determine. By combining published research, surveillance data, environmental information and sociodemographic factors, researchers estimated 38,659 cases between 2001 and 2023, with small and medium-sized island states experiencing some of the highest estimated incidence rates (https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0013876).

Together, these studies highlight an important point: we can't effectively prevent and control disease unless we understand where the burden lies, who is most affected, and what factors are driving it.

Better estimates can help guide surveillance, research, resources and public health action.

18/08/2026

We’re having a pop-up today and tomorrow where staff can buy our shirts.

Want a shirt but you’re not a staff member? Not a problem! You can head to the website and buy one for yourself and family.

And you can also donate to our centre and help fund research that makes a difference and saves lives!

Link is in our bio and stories!

Address

300 Herston Road, Herston
Brisbane, QLD
4006

Website

https://www.qimrb.edu.au/centre-for-tropical-health, https://www.instagram.com/c.t.h.e.d/, https://www.youtube.com/chann

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