VAX LEADERS

The Covid-19 vaccine. Picture: TORSTENSIMON FROM PIXABAY

Ag sets vax pace

Queensland’s agriculture sector has set a strong example for all Queenslanders by urging its workforce to get vaccinated for Covid-19.

Agriculture Minister Mark Furner visited meat processor JBS west of Toowoomba to congratulate the company on its efforts to keep its workers and the wider community safe.

“Businesses like JBS understand how vital a strong health response is to keeping the agricultural industry strong, so they have been encouraging all of their workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” Mr Furner said.

“Agriculture is an essential industry in Queensland and a vital part of Queensland’s Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan, so it was really important that the sector stood up when it comes to vaccinations.

“By doing this they make sure that fantastic Queensland produce still gets on plates domestically and around the world, protecting Queensland jobs and keeping more Queenslanders safe.

“Now we need unvaccinated Queenslanders to follow their example so we can once again welcome people from interstate and overseas to enjoy what we love about our state.”

JBS Plant Manager Justin McCormick said “we understand that our industry coincides with the safety of our employees, customers, partners, and communities, and we have made vaccinating our people a top priority“.

“As Australia’s largest protein producer and manufacturer, we pride ourselves as leaders in people safety within the agriculture industry.

“We have implemented companywide procedures, consistent with the advice of both National and State Health authorities, to ensure we limit the potential spread of Coronavirus.

“We urge our team members and their families get vaccinated to help protect themselves and ensure a safe work environment for all JBS employees at sites and plants across Australia.”

Yesterday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk released Queensland’s Covid Vaccination Plan to unite families, protect Queenslanders and chart a course through the next stages of the pandemic.

Key features include greater freedoms for those who are fully vaccinated including being able to cross the border from interstate hotspots in time for Christmas.

RACGP drive to boost specialist GPs

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is working to boost specialist GP numbers in rural Australia.

The RACGP is urging doctors who don’t yet have specialist qualifications to join its Practice Experience Program (PEP), as an alternative to Australian General Practice Training (AGPT), and develop a career in rural Australia.

The call is timely – from January 2022, policy changes will make it compulsory for any doctor wanting to sit the exams to become a specialist GP to be on an approved training pathway, such as PEP.

The change will bring general practice in line with other medical specialties. A newsGP poll of over 1000 GPs found the majority are supportive of the policy change at 54 per cent.

PEP is a flexible online and work-based education program available to all doctors working in rural and remote communities. Activities are largely practice-based and enable doctors to remain working in their practice and community, while expanding their skills in specialist general practice.

RACGP Rural Chair Dr Michael Clements said the drive to boost specialist GPs in rural Australia was needed more than ever.

“The shortage of specialist GPs in rural and remote Australia is dire, and the pandemic and restrictions on travel have made matters worse,” he said.

“As the peak body for GPs in every corner of the country, increasing the number of highly trained GPs in rural Australia is the RACGP’s top priority.

“This is a great opportunity for doctors who want to achieve Fellowship as a specialist GP in Australia, including overseas trained doctors.

“We know overseas trained doctors are attracted to PEP – a survey of participants in June found the most common location of a primary medical degree among participants was India at 11 per cent, followed by Australia at 9.1 per cent and Sri Lanka at 8.7 per cent.

“Joining PEP will put these doctors on the path to Fellowship, building their skills and knowledge, and furthering their career in rural and remote Australia, while accessing A1 Medicare rebates.

“It’s also great for rural and remote communities. The research shows that doctors who train in rural Australia are more likely to remain working and living there because they get the opportunity to see the benefits for themselves.

“A survey of our PEP participants in June this year found the overwhelming majority, 88 per cent, want to remain working in rural or remote Australia.

“As a rural GP myself, I know the rich rewards of a rural career and lifestyle. Rural and remote communities often rely on their local GP because there are no other local health services, so there’s great variety to our work and practice,” Dr Clements said.

“Rural GPs also tend to have stronger and longer relationships with our patients. And this is what tends to attract medical students to general practice in the first place – it’s the only medical speciality where you get to provide holistic care to someone throughout their life, not only helping them when they’re sick, but providing preventative care to keep them well.”

“My message to doctors who want to achieve Fellowship as a specialist GP and haven’t yet joined a training program is simple: don’t wait, PEP is a great option and if you join now, you’ll be ahead of the changes coming in January.”

Participants in the RACGP’s PEP enjoy access to full A1 Medicare rebates, support and mentoring from an experienced network of medical educators, and an optional exam preparation course delivered by experienced RACGP examiners in the last term.

Applications for the next intake of the RACGP’s PEP-Standard program close on 25 October.

More information is available on the RACGP website racgp.org.au/education/imgs/ fellowship-pathways/fellowship-programsfor-imgs/practice-experience-program/practice-experience-program-standard-stream

Ne w Hendra variant

Scientists at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, have uncovered a new type of Hendra virus in flying foxes, confirming the virus can be found across a broad region of the country.

A paper detailing the findings has been published just days after the new genetic type (HeV-g2) was detected in a horse near Newcastle in New South Wales, the most southern case of Hendra yet recorded.

Hendra virus can be transmitted from flying foxes to horses, and from horses to people. Previous studies had found the virus in flying foxes in Queensland and parts of New South Wales. After monitoring flying fox samples from 2013-2021, researchers at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) found the new genetic type in flying foxes in Victoria, South Australia, and West Australia. ACDP is a World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) reference laboratory for Hendra and Nipah virus diseases. Reference expert and CSIRO scientist Dr Kim Halpin said spillover of the disease from flying foxes to horses has still only been reported in Queensland and New South Wales.

“However, because Hendra Virus Genotype 2 is so genetically similar to the original Hendra virus, there is a potential risk to horses wherever flying foxes are found in Australia,” Dr Halpin said.

“It’s important to note that Hendra has never been reported to spread directly from flying foxes to humans – it’s always been transmitted from infected horses to humans. We expect this new genetic type would behave the same way.

“And given the similarities, while more research is needed, we expect the existing Hendra virus vaccine for horses should work against this new type too.

“This finding really underscores the importance of research into flying foxes – it’s crucial to helping us understand and protect Australians against the viruses they can carry.”

Another project, called “Horses as Sentinels”, led by the University of Sydney and CSIRO and funded by a Biosecurity Innovation Program grant from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, detected the same genetic type earlier this year in samples collected from a horse from Queensland in 2015. Results of this research are available in preprint.

Dr Steve Dennis, President of Equine Veterinarians Australia, said the findings are a reminder there’s a risk of Hendra virus wherever there are flying foxes and horses. “Owners and any people who interact with horses can reduce the risk of infection from Hendra virus and other zoonotic viruses through vaccination of horses or humans where available, wearing appropriate PPE, and seeking veterinary attention for sick horses,” Dr Dennis said.

CSIRO and the “Horses as Sentinels” project team have been working closely with vets and laboratories around Australia to implement improved tests for horses with signs of Hendra virus disease. More information for horse owners is available at outbreak.gov.au/for-vetsand-scientists/hendra-virus

Peer-reviewed results of CSIRO’s flying fox study have just been published in Virology Journal.