Eradication of measles may become a reality

The recent eradication of the cow disease Rinderpest demonstrates that it would also be possible to see the end of the measles virus, Nobel Laureate and Australian Academy of Science Fellow Peter Doherty will explain in a public lecture next week.

“The measles virus is closely related to Rinderpest,” he said.

“If we had the will and could persuade everyone to vaccinate their children, measles could be eradicated.”

Killer Viruses and Killer T Cells is the title of Doherty’s talk – the latest in the Academy’s series held to honour the life and work of the late Professor Frank Fenner.

The first person who trained as a veterinarian to win a Nobel Prize, Doherty has a particular interest in the zoonoses; infections that emerge from wildlife reservoirs and cause disease in humans. This includes frightening pathogens that are natural infections of fruit bats, such as Ebola, SARS and, of particular concern in Australia at present, the Hendra virus.

Peter Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery that killer T cells recognize altered-self on virus-infected cells.

From viruses to immunity to bats and beyond, he is part of an Australian research tradition that has made, and continues to make, an enormous contribution to global health and human well-being. That continues in organizations like Melbourne’s Burnet Institute, the Nossal Institute for Global Health and the ‘batty virus’ group in Geelong at CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory.

Media are welcome to attend and record the lecture. Professor Doherty is available for interview this week: to arrange, please contact Mona Akbari.