Media releases

Improvements to water quality that may prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people could be realised due to research funding awarded to Federation University Australia by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The funding to battle the spread of typhoid in developing countries will allow the team to conduct research in Papua New Guinea, where the disease remains a common cause of fever, particularly in the highlands.    

Typhoid fever occurs in resource-poor countries where sanitation and hygiene are lacking. About 136,000 people a year die from it.   

The Federation University seven-person research team will be led by Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Dr Andrew Greenhill. The primary aim of the study will be to determine whether the bacteria that causes typhoid (Salmonella Typhi) can persist in streams, rivers, tanks and ground water for long periods.  

An understanding of the survival of the bacteria in water can potentially lead to strategies to better treat the water, or at the least avoid using the water when S. Typhi is present. 

As part of the research, water samples will be collected weekly from about five villages and continue for up to 12 months. The samples will be tested for evidence of faecal contamination.  

S. Typhi is different to almost all other strains of Salmonella, as it is a human adapted strain.

The only reservoir of the pathogen is humans, where the pathogen survives before causing infection in a new host. Infection can occur through consumption of contaminated water, suggesting S.

Typhi can survive in water for at least short periods.  The ecology of S. Typhi may be more complex than is currently appreciated. It is possible that the pathogen may survive in water for weeks or months, but little is known about extended survival of S. Typhi in the environment.

DNA extracts of water will be used for metagenomic analysis to detect and characterise microbial communities (viral, bacterial, and eukaryotic).  

The presence or absence of S. Typhi will be analysed using advanced statistical methods.

These analyses will enable the research team to determine if any specific factors correlate with the long-term survival of S. Typhi.

Dr Greenhill’s research project was one of only 29 out of 1700 project proposals on the topic financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  

Quotes attributable to Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Dr Andrew Greenhill

“It is a great honour for Federation University to receive this funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – the funding will go a long way to maintain our research which seeks to improve the health of people living in PNG and other low-income countries.”

“Our research will provide valuable data so we can continue the fight to control typhoid and greatly reduce morbidity and mortality attributed to the disease.”