IPNC/SPC Press Release
First Asia-Pacific regional training course on leptospirosis
Monday, April 10, 2006, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea. The first Asia-Pacific regional training course on leptospirosis will be presented in Noumea at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pasteur Institute of New Caledonia (IPNC) from 10 to 16 April. Leptospirosis is an infectious, sometimes fatal disease that is widespread throughout the world, including in Asia and the Pacific.
In general, leptospirosis causes more deaths than dengue fever, proving fatal in 3 to 5% of cases. Every year, it is responsible for about 10 deaths in New Caledonia where its incidence rate is 100 times higher than in France (about 1 case per 1000 inhabitants in New Caledonia compared to 1 case per 100,000 inhabitants in France).
Fourteen people from 11 different countries and territories – American Samoa, Cambodia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Samoa, Vietnam and Wallis and Futuna – will attend the course, which has been jointly organised by IPNC and SPC with financial support from Techmed. Over the seven days, they will broaden their knowledge of leptospirosis, learning more about clinical aspects of the disease in humans and animals, diagnosis, physiopathology, treatment and vaccination. They will also receive training in current laboratory test methods.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease, which means it is transmitted from animals to humans. Infected animals shed leptospires in their urine, exposing susceptible animals and humans to the risk of contamination. Rodents, particularly rat species, act as a reservoir of leptospirosis in the wild, thus sustaining this endemic disease. Over the past 10 years, outbreaks have been reported in eight Pacific island countries and territories: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.
