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Sunday 17th November 1996

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International:

The Rockhampton woman scratched by a flying fox died yesterday from massive brain damage inflicted by a new form of the lyssavirus. The woman was a carer of ill and injured animals - the sick flying fox was one of those in her care.

The lyssavirus now has seven strains, five causing death in Africa; the sixth being rabies and this new strain causing encephalitus or inflamation of the brain.

The Health Minister Mike Horan said, "If you are bitten or scratched by a sick flying fox that may carry the lyssavirus, then you really are in extreme danger."

Despite rumours, Dr Diana Lange, Queensland's chief health officer, said that there had been no further notification of humans infected with the virus. She said that an inoculation program with the rabies vaccine had already begun in the Rockhampton area - and would be accelerated this week.

"I believe we will have to carry a pre-exposure vaccination to those people who are at risk at handling these animals every day," she said.

You say:

Once again thanks for your quick response. I guess where I am coming from is to try and get people to think a bit further than the Hanson debate and switch to the "where are we going to?" debate, which is ultimately more important. Leaving aside the ethical and emotional issues, in pragmatic terms it may be necessary to include more Asian people in our population simply to provide a more effective communication bridge into Asia. This seems to be part of what Bill Hayden was saying.

If the Hanson debate can lead to a better definition for us all of where Australia is heading then something very valuable will have been achieved. Inter-ethnic tensions have a habit of dying down given time and hopefully this will happen without permanent damage.

This is what democracy is all about and you are providing a new means for rapid exchange of ideas. True democracy (well, pretty close to it) sets Australia apart from most of its neighbours and it's in our and their best interests to demonstrate that it works.

Best regards
Ian Simpson

Well where is Australia heading to at the moment on this issue and what will the long term effects be to our standing in Asia? Prime Minister John Howard doesn't seem to have the answers.

Please tell us what you think.

Social:

The heat really got to Queenslanders this week, and yesterday was another scorcher. The heat over the last few days has been relentless with temperatures commonly reaching 40 degrees celcius.

Nurse manager of Nambour Hospital, Jean Haimes, said babies and the elderly were most at risk, saying "It's important to keep babies cool and comfortable so they should wear the least clothes possible".

Last night we spent a good few hours enjoying our swimming pool with friends.... the pool was refreshing but rather like a big bath.

By the way, that is my son Alex in the pool with me... he lost his first tooth earlier this week..

Some of the top temperatures:

LocationMax Degrees CelciusHumidity
Birdsville4412
Blackall4120
Charleville4116
Dalby4122
Emerald4122
Goondiwindi4226
Hughenden4122
Lismore4128
Longreach4412
Mt Isa4117
St George4217
Winton4213

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Another hot one ahead of us. Thank god for the swimming pool!

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