Help the Tamworth community by joining the AUSFLU survey - click here to read more!

The AUSFLU project is a collaborative endeavour involving the Commonwealth Departments of Health and Aging and Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, the University of Melbourne and Curtin University of Technology.

The project is being carried out by Dr Sam Beckett, an independent epidemiologist with Broadleaf.

AUSFLU is funded by the Australian Biosecurity CRC for Emerging Infectious Disease.

Click on any of the images below for the websites of our partners in this project.

What is AUSFLU?

AUSFLU provides a lifelike spatial simulation modelling environment that will allow public health researchers to study influenza and other infectious diseases, and test response strategies.  Simulation models are particularly useful for diseases that are new or emerging, and therefore difficult to study in the field.

AUSFLU does not name people or places, but otherwise creates a working model of the underlying population.  It is a spatial model, which means that it uses mapping software to locate households, places of work, etc, and to move individuals around through their daily activities – it is at least as detailed in this regard as any infectious disease model in the world.

Click on the image below to view a flyer about the AUSFLU project.

Click on the image below to view the Spatial Risk Modelling section of our website.

Click on the image below to return to the What We Do section of our website.

What is Pandemic Influenza?

Pandemic influenza is one of the most devastating diseases that the human population has ever faced.  More people died in the 1918/19 pandemic than were killed in the First World War.

At present a very serious strain of bird flu (termed H5N1) is circulating worldwide.  Although by no means a certainty, it is possible that this strain of flu could combine with one of the human strains.  This might result in a virus that is both completely new (and thus able to slip past our defences) and extremely dangerous.  This is why public health authorities worldwide are so concerned, and are motivated to prepare themselves by developing effective response strategies.

Why Tamworth?

Although the AUSFLU model will be able to simulate any Australian urban population, it is being developed and tested using census and spatial data for the urban centre of Tamworth in regional NSW.  We chose Tamworth for the study as it is of approximately the size needed for a project of this sort, has well developed education, health and hospitality infrastructure and is reasonably self-contained.

Although we have good census and spatial data, we are undertaking an extensive questionnaire-based survey to better understand how Tamworth people interact on a daily basis.  This study involves people of all ages, and from all parts of Tamworth. The work is being coordinated by the market research company, Sweeney Research.

AUSFLU Survey

If you are a resident of Tamworth and would like to contribute to the study, please click on one of the links below.  A $5 donation will be provided to the Tamworth community for each completed survey!

Click here to Download the AUSFLU survey for Adults.

Click here to Download the AUSFLU survey for Young People and Children.

Click on this link for a newspaper article (24th April 2008) about the project which is using Tamworth as a test site.

A more recent newspaper acticle (28th August 2008) about the project is at this link.

Click on this link for a recent ABC Local interview about the AUSFLU project with Broadleaf Associate Director Dr Sam Beckett.

Click on the image below to view the Biosecurity Risk Management section of our website.