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Speaker 1: Now, if you've been listening to the show over the

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Speaker 1: last few weeks, you certainly would have heard us speaking

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Speaker 1: about the eye infections that were being contracted by a

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Speaker 1: number of footballers across the Northern Territory up here in

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Speaker 1: the top end, I should say, across a number of

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Speaker 1: different games and different fields. Now, you know, some contracting

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Speaker 1: it weeks ago, others really only feeling the effects or

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Speaker 1: the impacts of this iron fiction over the last week

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Speaker 1: after not playing, you know, for two weeks. Now. Joining

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Speaker 1: us live on the line is the head of Surveillance

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Speaker 1: at the Center for Disease Control, doctor Barbi Rahindron.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to your doctor.

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Speaker 3: Good morning, thank you for having me on.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Now,

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Speaker 1: can you talk us through what NT health has identified

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Speaker 1: here with this outbreak?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so, thank you, Katie. So, as you mentioned, so

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Speaker 3: there was a number of players that were associated with

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Speaker 3: the outbreak and they've been reporting symptoms to the Northern

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Speaker 3: Territory Center of a Disease so particularly around redness, photosensitivity,

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Speaker 3: the blurred vision, and the pain and foreign body sensation.

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Speaker 3: So we then launched quite an extensive outbreak investigation to

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Speaker 3: really identify what was causing this particular rise, I guess,

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Speaker 3: and presentations in quite an unusual setting. So we did

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Speaker 3: extensive testing, particularly amongst people coming in and getting swabs

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Speaker 3: and scrapings done of their eyes, and we identified a

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Speaker 3: microspiritual species, vitaformaquania, which is described as a parasitic fungus.

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Speaker 3: And I guess I probably just want to emphasize this

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Speaker 3: is really rare stuff, like in terms of the lab

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Speaker 3: I really had to look and find in difficult and

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Speaker 3: hence I had the delay. But the good thing is

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Speaker 3: that this is a treatable condition and certainly looking at

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Speaker 3: the literature, we know that antibiotics work really well in

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Speaker 3: terms of this condition. And yeah, people have been having

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Speaker 3: pretty good outcomes there.

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Speaker 1: So what exactly, like, how did this end up happening

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Speaker 1: because you know, so many of there's so many of

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Speaker 1: our children and our family members play footy on these

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Speaker 1: very fields every single wet season and have never wound

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Speaker 1: up with the iron fection.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think it's it's a hard one. It's

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Speaker 3: a hard one there, Katie. I think I would comment

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Speaker 3: that we've probably had one of the most wettest of

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Speaker 3: wet seasons, and I think, you know, not just in Dahalin,

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Speaker 3: but across the whole territory in some parts. And I think,

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Speaker 3: you know, particularly if you look at any of the

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Speaker 3: matches that we observe, like this was very wet. You know,

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Speaker 3: people were playing in mud, they had the pool's water,

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Speaker 3: they had the exposure. So you know, we're certainly looking

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Speaker 3: at that and gathering data from you know, the viewer

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Speaker 3: of meteorology to look at the rainfall patterns, particularly around

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Speaker 3: the games there. And I guess potentially the second aspect

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Speaker 3: of that is also in terms of the AFL players.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's quite you know, a contact sport. People

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Speaker 3: are there, people are you know, getting mighty and getting water.

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Speaker 3: So it's potentially the combination of both of those things.

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Speaker 3: We are still investigating and really trying to get to

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Speaker 3: the bottom of this as well as also provide recommendations,

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Speaker 3: you know, in terms of the next antire NTFL season

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Speaker 3: when that comes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean tell me as well, Bobby, in terms

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Speaker 1: of you know, like I know that these you know

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Speaker 1: that these kids that have played in a certain game

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Speaker 1: for example, you know one that I'll give you an

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Speaker 1: example one that my daughter played in where some of

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Speaker 1: the children have ended up with the Ie, infection, but

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Speaker 1: others have not. You know, it was like you'd said,

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Speaker 1: in intense reign, there was a lot of mud on

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Speaker 1: the field. All of the kids are absolutely covered in mud.

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Speaker 1: How come some people get the eye infection and others don't.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a really good question, Katie.

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Speaker 3: It's probably like again, even when you've got the people

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Speaker 3: in the field, like, what's their exposure to mud at

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Speaker 3: all all of those times? As well as there could

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Speaker 3: be other reasons that we may not know about in

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Speaker 3: terms of way certain people gathered and certain people don't.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we've had one hundred cases reported, but you

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Speaker 3: know there's a lot more people who play NTFL football there,

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Speaker 3: so you know, maybe people may not have reported the symptoms.

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Speaker 3: It can clear by itself, particularly with mild cases. And

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Speaker 3: then I guess also but ensuring that people have been

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Speaker 3: coming forward with the anti and coming forward to have

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Speaker 3: healthcare and get antibiotics there.

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Speaker 1: Look, I've got one parent that's been in contact with

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Speaker 1: me that said, you know, I'm aware of many cases among.

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Speaker 2: The junior footballers.

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Speaker 1: Some have been so severe that they were unable to

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Speaker 1: leave a dark room. Some kids haven't been able to

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Speaker 1: attend our school.

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Speaker 2: They've got no idea of.

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Speaker 1: The length that this condition, of this condition, or how

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Speaker 1: long term that prognosis is. And you know, they say

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Speaker 1: that as a parent, they're feeling pretty worried about the

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Speaker 1: lack of information that's been provided. What would you say to,

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Speaker 1: you know, to anybody, whether it's a parent or a

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Speaker 1: player that's been impacted by this ironfection that are indeed

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Speaker 1: feeling really concerned and that they are still experiencing those symptoms.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm really sorry to hear that, Katie, And I

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Speaker 3: guess certainly this is a concern, particularly if it has

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Speaker 3: junior footballers. I guess I would say like this has

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Speaker 3: been the starting point as soon as we identified this species,

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Speaker 3: and even prior to our communications, has been in constant,

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Speaker 3: constant contact with all of our colleagues in terms of GPS,

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Speaker 3: optometrists and ophthalmologists to ensure that people can get on

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Speaker 3: treatment straight away. And I think one of the things

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Speaker 3: we noticed in particular was when we provided that information,

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Speaker 3: people were calling out pretty much straight away as soon

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Speaker 3: as they had any symptoms, you know, even a red

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Speaker 3: eye or anything like that, and they're able to get

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Speaker 3: treatment soon as well. In terms of if they askedill

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Speaker 3: ongoing symptoms, I guess I would highly and strongly suggest

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Speaker 3: to get in contact with either optometrists and general practitioner

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Speaker 3: and particularly provide a referral to the Royal DAO and

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Speaker 3: Specialist Eye Clinic, Like they've seen a lot of cases

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Speaker 3: here at the moment, and I think they're certainly the

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Speaker 3: best people in best place to provide further support, particularly

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Speaker 3: in terms of any treatment from there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: How many cases did we end up with in total

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Speaker 1: as far as CDC's concern, Yeah.

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Speaker 3: It's been about one hundred and two cases that we've

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Speaker 3: ended up with at the moment. Yeah, So I mean

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Speaker 3: certainly like one of the largest outbreaks of this that

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Speaker 3: we've identified. And I think that you know that was

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Speaker 3: also in terms of the symptoms that we identified, because

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Speaker 3: one hundred and two cases is a lot. People certainly

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Speaker 3: had that whole spectrum there, and you know, we're certainly

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Speaker 3: looking forward to sharing that with colleagues as well, so

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Speaker 3: they're also aware in terms of these symptoms here and

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Speaker 3: so talk.

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Speaker 1: Us through as well, doctor which fields exactly were the

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Speaker 1: concern and was the soil sampling done as well?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So I guess I again highlight Katie that one

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Speaker 3: of the things we identified it wasn't just the fields,

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Speaker 3: it was also that it was also the weather at

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Speaker 3: that time as well. So people who described this as

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Speaker 3: you know, sort of the the muddiest games that they've played.

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Speaker 3: So I think it's not just the fields, but also

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Speaker 3: the weather conditions, particularly around you know, the earlier this year.

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Speaker 3: So in terms of the high risk areas that we identified,

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Speaker 3: so they were TiO one and two, d X one

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Speaker 3: and two as well as the gardens Oval complex there.

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Speaker 3: But again and I think really highlighting that it wasn't

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Speaker 3: just as thereas it was also the combination of that wet,

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Speaker 3: muddy conditions with the pooled water as well as the

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Speaker 3: I guess the nature of AFL in terms of, you know,

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Speaker 3: being essentially covered in mud during those times there.

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Speaker 1: You know. My next question I suppose as well, is

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Speaker 1: that there are still you know, I would imagine even

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Speaker 1: though the AFL seasons ended, there is still going to

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Speaker 1: be other games of football. You know, We've got an

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Speaker 1: NRL game that's coming up in the next couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks on one of those very fields. There are kids

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Speaker 1: that train on those fields still, you know, from what

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Speaker 1: you've said there. To me, it was a combination of

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Speaker 1: a number of different things in terms of.

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Speaker 2: The mud, the weather, the water.

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Speaker 1: But is there any risk here that we're going to

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Speaker 1: see continued issues around these I infections at these different fields.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I guess to highlight, we're in close contact

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Speaker 3: with the operators of those venues at the moment and

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Speaker 3: also providing messaging to the individual players as well as

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Speaker 3: the clubs. And so that's particularly around washing. You know,

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Speaker 3: if you've got mud on your face, certainly washing that

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Speaker 3: around and particularly the eyes as well as you know,

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Speaker 3: having a shower immediately afterwards. Soap. I guess I would

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Speaker 3: say it's really the wet and muddy exposure that's really

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Speaker 3: been driving this and hopefully and as we move into

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Speaker 3: the dry season with less rain there at the moment,

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Speaker 3: I do suspect the risk will be lower during that

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Speaker 3: times in these particular areas.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Look, excuse my ignorance.

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Speaker 1: So I'm clearly not a professional in this space, but

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Speaker 1: I mean, even like so, it's not something that can

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Speaker 1: be kind of dormant in the soil or anything like that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we're still working on that and certainly we're doing

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Speaker 3: some more samplings to understand. But I think it's even

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Speaker 3: if it's there, it's really around the exposure particularly, you know,

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Speaker 3: in terms of the activities that are done, as well

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Speaker 3: as the exposure to the muddy fields there when you've

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Speaker 3: had sort of intense you know, intense range. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right, so it's sort of got to be that combination

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Speaker 1: of it being really really wet and the mud and

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Speaker 1: stuff on the field too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think that's certainly been Again this has

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Speaker 3: also been reported in other tropical areas, so basically around

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Speaker 3: sat East Asia, and again what they've reported is that

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Speaker 3: certainly that exposure to those muddy fields. Yeah, at the moment,

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Speaker 3: and I guess this is you know, this is an unusual,

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Speaker 3: unique situation. We haven't had this before in the NT

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Speaker 3: and so we're clearly looking at what are the drivers

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Speaker 3: of that and one of the most you know, one

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Speaker 3: of the big drivers has been that wet season that

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Speaker 3: we've just had.

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Speaker 1: Barby a few people messaging through asking Katie, is it

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Speaker 1: anything to do with the water that's being used on

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Speaker 1: the grounds. Is that water treated on those grounds? Could

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Speaker 1: that be a contributing factor?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so that's a great question, Katie. We did reach

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Speaker 3: out to the grounds as well to identify if anything

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Speaker 3: had been done differently compared to any of the previous seasons,

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Speaker 3: and we couldn't really identify anything, you know, that had

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Speaker 3: been changed in terms of any of the ground watering

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Speaker 3: or maintenance at the moment.

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Speaker 1: There now I know that there's therese We're getting so

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Speaker 1: many messages about this, I guess because there's been quite

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Speaker 1: a large number of people that have been impacted, but

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Speaker 1: you know a lot of people sort of wondering why

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Speaker 1: the messaging wasn't clear as well in the lead into

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Speaker 1: some of those finals, because from what I can gather,

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Speaker 1: there was maybe some cases, you know, a few weeks

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Speaker 1: prior and people wondering why didn't you know the Center

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Speaker 1: for Disease Control, Ant Health or AFL and T notify

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Speaker 1: people of the potential eye infections.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so again, thanks for the question, Katie. I guess

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Speaker 3: I appreciate as we've got more and more information, and

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Speaker 3: we were able to give more and more data, and

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, as soon as we knew this

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Speaker 3: is what we suspected, we certainly push those results out

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Speaker 3: through health alerts or this media release here and then,

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Speaker 3: but we've also been contacting with each of the clubs,

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Speaker 3: we've you know, had really good relationships with them, and

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Speaker 3: they've been really forthcoming in terms of passing some of

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Speaker 3: our messaging. There at the moment tricky when you get

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Speaker 3: you know, that initial phone call or that initial thing

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Speaker 3: where you know, you see this unusual infection, and I guess,

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Speaker 3: particularly because it could be a number of different things,

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Speaker 3: that's why we had to take a bit of time

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Speaker 3: just really trying to understand it as well as understanding

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Speaker 3: you know, who else is affected what particular areas, And

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Speaker 3: unfortunately that takes a bit of time. But in the meantime,

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Speaker 3: we were still providing some of the messaging as best

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Speaker 3: as we could, particularly around like washing mud off your

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Speaker 3: faces and not sharing towels, for example, And I guess, yeah,

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Speaker 3: making sure that that's been consistent throughout this response.

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Speaker 1: Bobby, Before I let you go, will the Center for

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Speaker 1: Disease Control or NTY Health continue to update the community

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Speaker 1: on any findings, you know, because it does sound as

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Speaker 1: though there's still a little bit of work that's happening.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, Like I mean, we'll certainly be providing feather updates.

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Speaker 3: I think, you know, particularly towards clinicians. You know that

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Speaker 3: may still see some of these cases as well as

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Speaker 3: the broader community, to make sure that they're aware of

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Speaker 3: our investigation. I guess the most important thing, kdie, if

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Speaker 3: I could just finish off, you know, if you do

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Speaker 3: have any infection, you know, if you do have any

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Speaker 3: of those symptoms, so particularly around redness, it's photosensitivity, blurred

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Speaker 3: vision or pain and foreign body sensation, and you have

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Speaker 3: played in the NTFL, please have a chat or go

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Speaker 3: to your GP or optometrist and mention this to particularly

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Speaker 3: ensure that you can get on the right treatment pathways

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Speaker 3: as well. Like we know what this is now, which

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Speaker 3: has been really good, and we know in the wider

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Speaker 3: medical literature that there does seem to be some pretty

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Speaker 3: good response rates in terms of the treatment that we're

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Speaker 3: giving at the moment. So I just really want to

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Speaker 3: make sure that you know, if anyone there has any

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Speaker 3: symptoms to please go to your GP or optometrist.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, look, I appreciate your time this morning. Doctor

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Speaker 1: Barbi Rahindra from the Center for Disease Control, the head

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Speaker 1: of Surveillance, thank you so much for having a chat

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Speaker 1: with us this morning.

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Speaker 3: Great, Thank you, key, thank you so much.