Day 5: A day of infectious disease and STDs!

Dookie campus again today.  Started the day with a lecture from Geoff Withers, a veterinarian at the University of Melbourne.  He gave 3 great cases: 1) Inhalational Anthrax in a NYC businessman who made bongo drums from African goat skins 2) Leptospirosis in a dairy farmer and 3) Q-fever (Coxiella burnetii) in a 30 year old female veterinarian who now suffers from Chronic Q Fever Syndrome.  Fascinating stuff for me, the budding ID fellow, but the class seemed a bit spent :)

We then had an informal talk by Ivan Lister (pictured above in the large black hat) who is a rural social worker/outreach worker dealing with mental health issues in the rural farming community.  Rural farmers are suffering from severe stress, depression, and anxiety related mostly to financial concerns.  Turns out that in order to make ends meat as an Australian farmer you need >1000 sheep and >300 cattle, numbers too large for your average small family farmer.  Ivan expects that rural farming with be all but extinct in <10 years.

 

Final talk was given by Jane Tomnay (see left) from the Centre for Excellence in Rural Sexual Health (CRESH).  She was FABULOUS in every sense of the word.  Spoke about chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV in the rural setting.  Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STD with >20K cases/year in Australia.  Both syphilis and HIV are driven mostly by the MSM population, but rates are increasing given the influx of foreign travelers.  Most STD testing is coordinated by Victorian Infectious Disease Research Lab (VIDRL), a place that I've got to get connected with!

After a day of lecture, the students headed out to their rural placements and I rode back to Shepparton. BUT, first we dropped off a student at his rural placement in Benalla, VIC.  Check out their sweet digs...



Up to 5 students stay in this house equipped with 2 flat screen TVs, a  huge backyard, and a serious propane grill!

Where the students will coordinate their training:

The Michael Long Education Center at Benalla 

These sheep were quite skeptical as I approached their truck to say hello.  Yes, this truck was parked right outside their medical center.  Why not bring your sheep when you come in for a check up?

Ended the day back at Shepparton coordinating my trip to Tasmania (who's excited!)