Brian Kay AM is the Deputy Director for the Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health and Nutrition, a flagship Centre of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. From 2002, he led the Centre as Director and successfully gained a fourth five-year renewal until 2011 under the national Public Health Education and Research Program. Thus his remit is for enhancement of regional public health through education, training and research, in partnership with the University of Queensland. He is currently acting as a senior advisor to the Mosquito Control Laboratory, at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, and also enjoys World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre status. He has published over 240 scientific papers on arboviruses and their vectors, and specialises in developing novel surveillance, eradication and control strategies, such as currently done by local governments in Queensland and by Ministries of Health overseas. Brian has been a major regional player for over 40 years and currently is involved with world first eradications of dengue mosquitoes in Vietnam and of imported salt marsh mosquitoes in New Zealand.

New approaches to control mosquito-borne disease
by Professor Brian Kay

Compared to some other countries, Australia is relatively free from mosquito-borne pathogens. Malaria and filariasis have been eradicated, and dengue viruses are restricted to Queensland. Ross River virus cases average about 4,800 per year, with southern immigrants and international visitors particularly at risk because of their lack of antibodies. Vaccines are not available.

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research has pioneered the community-based use of local predacious microcrustaceans called copepods to control dengue. As part of a collaborative Gates ‘Grand Challenges in Global Health’ program, we also aim to use the symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia to prevent transmission of dengue, especially in urban areas.

Unlike dengue, Ross River virus has a multiplicity of vectors, so the approaches used are more diverse to deal with salt marsh and fresh water habitats. Mosquito control is prioritised, based on geographical risk at a local- or state-wide scale. The current trial of a web-based Ross River early detection system has the potential to be translated to other notifiable diseases and create broad community awareness to avert risk.

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