Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide and is endemic throughout the developing world including many Asia-Pacific countries.  Approximately one-quarter of the global population, or around 1.7 billion people, have Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI). LTBI is an asymptomatic condition that may progress to active infection, with a reactivation risk of about 5-10% over a lifetime if left untreated.  LTBI occurs in 5% of all Australian residents, but in 17% of those born overseas.  The incidence of active TB (symptomatic disease) in Australia is low at approximately 0.6 per 100,000 population per year, with most cases presenting in overseas-born individuals.

Although the overall risk of acquiring LTBI for travellers is less than 1% in most settings, certain travellers, such as those visiting friends and relatives (VFRs), are at increased risk of exposure. Additionally, some individuals (such as the immunocompromised) are at higher risk of progression to active disease if infected.

It is important to identify those who are at risk of LTBI and arrange the appropriate tests. Treatment of LTBI can prevent progression to active disease. GPs are well-placed to detect patients at risk and arrange diagnostic testing. Treatment can be implemented in general practice for many, or via infectious disease outpatient services. Dedicated TB Programs in each Australian State or Territory to provide clinical and public health care and guidance.

For primary prevention, current Australian guidelines recommend BCG vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged <5 in some parts of Australia and for children <5 who are travelling to countries with high tuberculosis incidence (>40 cases per 100,000 per year) for longer periods, particularly if VFRs.

This 90-minute workshop is targeted at interested GPs & nurses. Case studies and practical strategies will be included and will review the following:

• TB and LTBI epidemiology in Australia
• Identifying travellers at increased risk of TB exposure and progression to active disease
• Testing options and interpretation
• Available treatments
• BCG vaccine recommendations and administration
• New vaccines in development

Travel medicine is delivered across diverse healthcare settings, including general practice, community pharmacies, workplace health services, specialist travel clinics, and evolving virtual health platforms. This 90-min workshop is designed for clinicians who are new to travel medicine or seeking a structured refresher in core concepts and practices.

Facilitated by experienced nurse leaders in travel health, the session is suitable for a broad audience including nurses, nurse practitioners, general practitioners, and pharmacists. Using a practical, case-based format, the workshop will build confidence in conducting pre-travel consultations, assessing risk, planning vaccinations and using trusted clinical resources.

Key Topics Covered:

• Defining the roles of different health professionals in travel medicine
• Structuring an effective pre-travel consultation
• Assessing travel-related risks and advising on vaccines, malaria prophylaxis, and other health considerations
• Integrating travel health into various practice settings
• Navigating key tools and clinical resources to support decision-making
• Applying knowledge through case-based discussion and peer learning

Who Should Attend:
Health professionals seeking to build or refresh their knowledge of travel health and the pre-travel consultation process – including nurses, nurse practitioners, general practitioners and pharmacists working across a wide range of clinical settings.

The Yellow Fever workshop has run annually since the first Southern Cross Travel Medicine Conference in 2015. Delivered by three experienced doctors in travel medicine, it has always been a popular session amongst meeting attendees. This 3-hour workshop is designed for healthcare providers who currently provide the yellow fever vaccine, as well as those considering providing it in their practice. It concludes with a short quiz, and participants who pass receive a certificate of competence.

The workshop provides a comprehensive overview of yellow fever, covering:

· The history and evolution of the disease and its vaccine

· Current global status and epidemiology

· Legal and regulatory requirements, including the International Certificate of Vaccine Prophylaxis (ICVP)

· Implications for practitioners in Australia and New Zealand

The workshop includes detailed presentations, case studies and opportunities for discussion. The content goes beyond what is covered in standard online training for vaccine providers in Australia and New Zealand, offering a deeper dive into clinical and practical aspects. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and engage with real-world scenarios from clinical practice.

The presentations cover:

– What is all the fuss and why am I here? Overview of the disease and current global outbreaks

– The legalities: WHO International Health Regulations, country requirements, how to correctly complete the International Certificate for Vaccination and Prophylaxis (ICVP), and how to become a yellow fever vaccine provider in Australia and New Zealand

– Vaccine safety: Discussion of precautions, contraindications, and special considerations

– Case studies: Real-world scenarios, including decisions on whether to vaccinate, especially for older travellers and those on immunosuppressive therapy

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, offering rich cultural, environmental, and culinary experiences. However, its diverse settings present a range of health risks, including infectious diseases, environmental exposures, and variable healthcare access.

This destination-focused workshop provides an overview of the region’s health landscape, followed by practical, case-based learning. Designed for all travel health practitioners, it supports the delivery of context-specific, evidence-based pre-travel advice tailored to the varied needs of travellers visiting this complex and dynamic region.

Key Topics Covered

• Regional diversity, traveller demographics, and trip purposes
• Infectious disease risks and vaccine-preventable illnesses
• Environmental exposures, behavioral risk factors, and injury prevention
• Healthcare system variability and implications for emergency preparedness
• Planning for malaria prophylaxis, vector-borne disease prevention, and food/water safety
• Cultural sensitivity and traveller education in pre-travel consultations
• Applying best-practice guidelines to real-world travel scenarios

Who Should Attend

This workshop is intended for health professionals involved in pre-travel care across diverse settings, including general practice, specialist travel clinics, pharmacies and public health. It is also relevant for those supporting work-related travel in corporate, government, and other organisational sectors. Suitable for both newcomers and experienced clinicians seeking region-specific updates, the session offers practical, evidence-based insights applicable to a range of clinical and organisational contexts.

South America offers travellers a remarkable but complex mix of landscapes and experiences, from the soaring Andes and Amazon rainforest to sprawling urban hubs and remote plains. These geographic and infrastructural extremes, coupled with diverse travel styles, contribute to a unique spectrum of health risks. Common itineraries often span multiple countries and include high-risk elements such as altitude trekking, jungle expeditions, and extended overland transport.

This interactive workshop provides an overview of key regional health challenges, including infectious diseases, environmental exposures, and altitude-related illness. Through expert-led case studies, we will explore how to approach risk assessment and deliver practical, evidence-based pre-travel advice tailored to a range of traveller profiles.

Designed for professionals in general practice, travel clinics, pharmacy-based services, and other travel health settings, this session blends region-specific insights with hands-on clinical applications.

Key Topics

• Regional health risks: vaccine-preventable diseases, vector-borne illnesses, altitude exposure
• Tailoring advice for diverse travellers and complex itineraries
• Risk assessment and clinical decision-making based on different travel itineraries
• Promoting traveller self-care, behavioural risk reduction, and resilience in resource-limited settings
• Effective communication and documentation of travel health considerations

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Describe major regional health risks in South America, including vaccine-preventable and vector-borne diseases, and altitude-related conditions
• Tailor travel health advice for different traveller types, including adventure, remote, and high-risk travel
• Conduct comprehensive travel risk assessments and apply evidence-informed decision-making
• Advise travellers on strategies for self-care, behavioural risk mitigation, and contingency planning in limited-resource environments

 Who Should Attend

This session is suitable for all health professionals involved in pre-travel care—whether from general practice, dedicated travel clinics or pharmacies. Both experienced practitioners and those newer to travel health will benefit from the region-specific content and applied clinical focus.

Session Schedule

This interactive workshop will focus on real-world case discussions in small groups, providing a practical and engaging way to apply regional health knowledge. Facilitators will guide participants through two distinct traveller scenarios, encouraging collaborative risk assessment, clinical decision-making, and tailored travel health advice. Time will be allocated for table discussion and shared insights across the room.

Case Study 1: The Older Traveller to a Yellow Fever Endemic Area
Focus:

• Vaccination decision-making
• Managing pre-existing health conditions
• Communication and documentation requirements

Case Study 2: The Young Backpacker on an Extended Overland Journey (including high-altitude travel)
Focus:

• Navigating diverse environments with limited healthcare access
• Addressing behavioural risks and preventive strategies
• Promoting self-care and preparation for altitude-related exposures

The wilderness presents unique challenges for medical care.  Wilderness is a broad term covering a wide range of environments, risk factors and hazards. Wilderness medicine relates to the practice of medical care in resource poor environments away from definitive medical care.  We are seeing increasing numbers of groups visit wilderness areas, requiring a medical officer. While there is changing access to technology, such as satellite phones and internet (think Starlink) and transport options there is still a need for professionals that are able to respond to the immediate threats posed in the wilderness.

So what care should be included under the banner of wilderness medicine? Currently we cover high altitude to diving, hot humid climates to dry cold climates, lightning, floods, high winds, interactions with snakes, animals, insects, marine life and birds, as-well-as addressing a range of tropical, food borne, arthropod and other diseases.  Then there are the medical challenges that can occur, such as heat exhaustion, sea sickness, people with chronic diseases, blisters and infections, allergic reactions and even heart attacks.  Add to these challenges is often the lack of equipment, the need to travel large distances through a range of differing terrain and climate zone sometimes of foot.

So what skills do you need to ensure the health and safety of those on a wilderness expedition?

In this 90-minute workshop, we will explore the following:

• What would be considered core competencies for wilderness medicine?
• Ranking the competencies
• What would be considered extensions competencies for wilderness medicine
• Are there specific competencies related to the Australian environment
• What additional non-medical competencies should also be considered?

This work will help to inform the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine Faculty of Wilderness Medicine ongoing professional development and also James Cook University’s Expedition and Wilderness Medicine Subject.

This One Health symposium on Japanese Encephalitis will explore the intersection of human health, entomology, and environmental drivers to better understand disease dynamics. Topics will include risk assessment and spatial mapping of transmission, alongside the application of genomics. The session aims to foster interdisciplinary insights into prevention and control strategies across sectors.

ONE HEATH Symposium: JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS
11:00 – 12:30	Symposium Chair: Prof Darren Gray
11:00 – 11:20	Integrating entomological insights into Japanese encephalitis risk assessment and management	Leon Hugo
11:20 – 11:40	Mapping Japanese encephalitis virus suitability across Australia’s ecological landscape	Eloise Skinner
11:40 – 12:00	From Exotic Travel Risk to Domestic Reality: Are we Ready for endemic JEV? Shifting the clinical mindset from imported disease to local vigilance	Michael Nissen
12:00 – 12:20	A One Health Approach to JEV genomics in Australia	David Williams
12:20 – 12:30	Discussion/Questions

Mapping is a powerful tool for understanding the spatial patterns of infectious diseases. Geographic information systems (GIS) allow researchers, public health practitioners and policymakers to identify hotspots, track outbreaks and design targeted interventions. This workshop offers an engaging introduction to infectious disease mapping, focusing on key concepts, map types and hands-on techniques for visualising disease data.

This 3-hour workshop is designed for participants with little or no prior GIS experience and is suitable for anyone involved in infectious disease research, including both population-based and clinical researchers. The session will cover fundamental mapping skills using QGIS, a free and user-friendly software. Through guided exercises, participants will learn how to create choropleth maps, apply smoothing techniques, generate heatmaps and buffer zones, and illustrate movement patterns. Practical exercises will use real or simulated infectious disease data, with R scripts provided for those who wish to continue their learning independently. By the end of the session, participants will have a foundational understanding of how to use mapping to support public health decision-making. We will finish with a fun map quiz to wrap up the session.

 Objectives

• Gain familiarity with QGIS and basic mapping workflows.
• Understand spatial data types.
• Learn about key map types relevant to infectious disease mapping: choropleth maps, heatmaps, buffer maps, and arrow maps.
• Create basic choropleth maps of disease incidence and apply Empirical Bayes smoothing.
• Develop point-based visualizations such as heatmaps and buffer zones around clinics or cases.
• Explore common challenges in disease mapping, including small numbers, ecological fallacy, and the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP).
• Receive additional resources for independent learning and practice including R codes.

Participant requirements:

To participate fully in the hands-on components of the workshop, please:

• Bring your own laptop to the session
• Install QGIS in advance from https://qgis.org/download/ (available for both Windows and Mac)
• Install R if you wish to explore the provided scripts after the session from https://posit.co/downloads/

Time	Session	Content & Activities
13:30–14:00	Welcome & Icebreaker	Quick intros (e.g., name + one disease you think has a geographic pattern) Overview of objectives Why spatial thinking matters in infectious disease context Point vs areal data Spatial data and attribute table Spatial data formats (Shapefile, Geo-package, etc.) Geographic vs projected coordinate systems (including examples from Fiji and repositioning Australia at the centre of a world map) Layers, maps, and layouts
14:00–14:20	Concepts Crash Course	Map types: choropleth, buffer, density, arrow maps Application of each map in infectious disease and travel medicine contexts
14:20–15:00	Hands-On 1: Area-Based Mapping	Load areal data + disease rates Create a choropleth of crude incidence Apply Empirical Bayes smoothing
15:00–15:30	Afternoon tea and break
15:30–16:30	Hands-On 2: Point-Based Mapping	Load point-level case data Create heatmaps (kernel density) Generate buffer maps (e.g., 1km around clinics) Create arrow maps (travel maps)
16:30–16:45	Common pitfalls	Small numbers, ecological fallacy, MAUP
16:45–17:00	Wrap-Up & What’s Next	Recap of key terms & tools List of resources (links to tutorials, sample data, key literature) Map quiz!

Strongyloidiasis remains one of the most neglected tropical diseases, despite being a lifelong chronic disease with potentially fatal complications. Following the release of the WHO guidelines recommending preventive chemotherapy for strongyloidiasis in 2024, there is growing recognition of the importance of this disease in both tropical and sub-tropical regions. The Oceania region has the highest burden of strongyloidiasis globally. In remote Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, community prevalence can exceed 40%. Strongyloidiasis also may be seen in regional towns and cities in northern Australia, and is a risk for both immigrants from, and travellers to, endemic areas.

This workshop will provide a comprehensive update for clinicians, nurses, researchers, and public health practitioners, with a focus on the latest evidence, programmatic innovations, and diagnostic challenges. It will discuss the presentation, diagnosis, and management of strongyloidiasis in individual patients and update on the current state of strongyloidiasis control in Australia. Evaluations of the efficacy of new faecal PCR assays for the diagnosis of strongyloidiasis and new findings on the unique regional epidemiology and species diversity of strongyloidiasis in Papua New Guinea will be included.

The workshop will conclude with a facilitated panel discussion, offering attendees the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers on key questions in clinical care, diagnostics, and control.

Topic	Speaker	Duration (min)
Update on Strongyloidaisis for Clinicians	Lauren McShane	20
Strongyloidaisis primary care control program	Wendy Page	10
Strongyloides – ending the neglect	Suzy Ossipow	10
Strongyloides environmental control	Kirstin Ross	10
Strongyloides PCR – faecal, or fickle?	Catherine Gordon	10
Strongyloides fuelleborni in PNG	Huan Zhao	10
Panel discussion		20
	Total	90