The Australian Centre for Disease Control

On Tuesday our Acting Director-General, Emily Harper delivered the welcome address at the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference, jointly held with the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference, hosted by ASHM. From 14 to 17 September the conferences will bring together leaders across HIV, sexual and reproductive health to share evidence, strengthen partnerships and support better health outcomes across Australasia. We’re proud to sponsor these important conferences and support the abstract session on syphilis and using data to inform public health responses. At the Australian CDC we’re working with state and territory governments, the health sector and community organisations to support nationally coordinated action, improve awareness and increase access to prevention, testing and treatment of all blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections. Want to learn more about our STI prevention work? 🔗 Start by checking out our national response to syphilis at https://lnkd.in/g-wyv8YZ #AustralianCDC #AustralasianHIV&AIDSConference #AustralasianSexual&ReproductiveHealthConference #ASHM #StopSTIs

Women’s Health Week is a great reminder that your health deserves care too 💜 STI testing can feel awkward, overwhelming or like one more thing to squeeze in. It's important to do it anyway – because testing is often simpler than you think, but it can make a big difference for your health. STI testing takes four steps: 1️⃣ book an appointment 2️⃣ request an STI test 3️⃣ undertake collection – this may include a self-collected or clinician-collected vaginal swab, a urine test, or a blood test depending on what you’re being tested for 4️⃣ treat if needed. Keep it simple, stay healthy. If you have ever had sex – especially without protection – book your STI test today: https://lnkd.in/dfFKc6V. To learn more about preventing STIs, visit https://lnkd.in/gmjjNMY2. #AustralianCDC #WomensHealthWeek #STI #TestForSTIs

📢 Exciting news!  We're pleased to share congratulations to our colleague, Aruna Phabmixay, who has been accepted into the prestigious Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship with the Australian National University.  This is a fantastic opportunity for Aruna to undertake a full three-year PhD focused on issues of national significance, while continuing to build expertise that supports the Australian CDC’s work to strengthen public health protection for Australia.  🦠🧫🔬 Aruna is currently acting as Director of the Antimicrobial Resistance and Foodborne Disease Section, where she leads a team to monitor and deliver antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and enteric disease: - national policy - epidemiology - surveillance - public health guidance. At ANU, Aruna will study the need for regular, robust and nationally consistent bacterial AMR surveillance in Australia to inform national preparedness and response strategies.  We’re thrilled to see Aruna take on this next step and look forward to seeing the impact of her research.  🎉 Congratulations, Aruna, on this outstanding achievement and wonderful recognition of your contribution to public health.  #AustralianCDC #SirRolandWilsonScholarship #ANU #PublicService 

It’s Women’s Health Week 💜 Between work, life, appointments, family, friends and everything else, looking after your health can be overwhelming. But STI testing may be simpler than many women realise. For syphilis, testing involves a quick blood test taken by a clinician. For gonorrhoea and chlamydia, testing can be as easy as a self-collected or clinician-collected vaginal swab, or a urine test. Quick, simple and one small way to prioritise your health and wellbeing this women’s health week. ✨ If you’re sexually active and haven't had a test recently, book one today at https://lnkd.in/dfFKc6V. To learn more about preventing STI's visit https://lnkd.in/gmjjNMY2. #AustralianCDC #WomensHealthWeek #STI #TestForSTIs

Today is World Field Epidemiology Day – a chance to recognise the people who help detect, understand and respond to public health threats. This year’s theme, 'Protecting communities from behind the scenes: The power of field epidemiology', highlights the critical work epidemiologists do through surveillance, analysis, advice and outbreak response. At the Australian CDC, field epidemiology is central to our work. Our epidemiologists bring together data, expertise and evidence to support timely public health advice for governments, health professionals and communities. To mark the day, our Director-General, Prof Zoe Wainer spoke at The Australian National University’s annual World Field Epidemiology Day event, reflecting on the central role epidemiologists play in Australia’s public health system. She highlighted how epidemiologists are supporting national responses and preparedness work across issues including infectious syphilis, diphtheria, Ebola disease risk assessments and highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1). As Australia’s public health landscape continues to evolve, field epidemiologists will remain central to how we detect, understand and respond to emerging health threats. Thank you to the field epidemiologists whose work helps protect our communities – often behind the scenes but always at the heart of our public health responses. 🔗 Read about our team of field epidemiologists and the work they’re doing at: https://lnkd.in/giJ8eNJX. #AustralianCDC #WorldFieldEpidemiologyDay #FieldEpidemiology #PublicHealth

Over the last two days, we have been thrilled to support Australia's 2nd Vaccine Value Chain Conference 2026 as a silver sponsor.  Vaccines are central to preventing infectious disease and protecting communities. Strengthening Australia’s vaccine value chain – from research and development through to policy, delivery and uptake – relies on strong collaboration across government, industry, academia, clinical practice and the broader immunisation sector.  We have valued the opportunity to participate and support these important conversations with insights from some of our very own:  • Director-General, Prof Zoe Wainer   • Emily Harper, Deputy Director-General   • Dr Stephanie Williams, Assistant Director-General, Communicable Diseases   Thank you to Biointelect Pty Ltd for hosting this important event and helping advance discussion on Australia’s vaccine ecosystem.   🔗Learn more about our work to prevent communicable diseases at https://lnkd.in/gzezh_zH.    #AustralianCDC #AVVCC26 #VaccineValueChain #Immunisation   

📬 The latest Communicable Diseases Intelligence (CDI) journal edition is here! CDI is a scientific journal sharing peer-reviewed academic content on public health. It's a free and open source of information on communicable diseases in Australia and the near region. Read the August 2026 edition to learn about: • influenza viruses received and tested by the Melbourne World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza during 2025 • the first high pathogenicity avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b incursions in the Hunter New England region, New South Wales • the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation’s 2025 targeted review: Immunisation considerations for immunocompromised people in Australia • and more! Learn more about CDI at https://lnkd.in/gDbEAxzM. Read the latest CDI articles at https://lnkd.in/giJHF9wq #AustralianCDC #CommunicableDiseasesIntelligence #CDI #PublicHealth #PeerReviewedArticles

📢 We have news! H5 bird flu has been detected in birds and other wildlife in Australia, including mammals for the first time. The risk to people in Australia remains low. Help keep it that way. Remember to: 🛑 avoid contact with sick or dead birds or animals 📱 record what you see 🗣️ report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888 from anywhere in Australia. Read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/gm_YgRa7. #AustralianCDC #News #H5BirdFlu

🦠 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time and preventing it takes all of us. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses or fungi change over time and stop responding to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of spread, severe illness and death. Preventing infections, using antibiotics responsibly when you’re ill, and coordinated public health action help slow the spread of AMR in our communities. Initiatives like Pathogen Panic! raise awareness and encourage our future leaders in AMR to explore new, multidisciplinary ways of achieving this goal. Organised by the Centre to Impact AMR, Pathogen Panic! 2026 brought together students from around the world to respond to a simulated AMR case, challenging them to solve a complex infectious disease scenario through collaboration, creativity and evidence-informed thinking. 🥇 Congratulations to all participants and this year’s winners, Zhuan Kee, Vis Leong, Liew Poh En (Chloe) and Iman Imtiyaz Ahmed Juvale from the School of Business at Monash University Malaysia, Monash Malaysia School of Engineering and Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Monash University Malaysia. Missed out but still want to get involved? Pathogen Panic! is expected to return in 2027. 🔗 Learn more about how we’re tackling AMR at https://lnkd.in/gqv7u3yj. #AustralianCDC #AMR #AntimicrobialResistance

Australia has a new five-year strategic plan to reduce tuberculosis (TB) rates, and improve health equity outcomes. Australia remains a low-incidence country. However, some population groups are more affected by TB. The new plan builds on existing programs and introduces a stronger focus on reducing disparities in health outcomes. It supports the goal of TB pre-elimination (defined as 1 case per 100,000 population) in Australia by 2030, while delivering culturally appropriate care for everyone affected by TB. Find out more in the latest edition of the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal: https://lnkd.in/dKe2eeeu #AustralianCDC #Tuberculosis #CommunicableDiseaseIntelligence