Objective: This research seeks to identify climate‐sensitive infectious diseases of concern with a present and future likelihood of increased occurrence in the geographically vulnerable Torres Strait Islands, Australia. The objective is to contribute evidence to the need for adequate climate change responses. Methods: Case data of infectious diseases with proven, potential and speculative climate sensitivity were compiled. Results: Five climate‐sensitive diseases in the Torres Strait and Cape York region were identified as of concern: tuberculosis, dengue, Ross River virus, melioidosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial infection. The region constitutes 0.52% of Queensland's population but has a disproportionately high proportion of the state's cases: 20.4% of melioidosis, 2.4% of tuberculosis and 2.1% of dengue. Conclusions: The Indigenous Torres Strait Islander peoples intend to remain living on their traditional country long‐term, yet climate change brings risks of both direct and indirect human health impacts. Implications for public health: Climate‐sensitive infections pose a disproportionate burden and ongoing risk to Torres Strait Islander peoples. Addressing the causes of climate change is the responsibility of various agencies in parallel with direct action to minimise or prevent infections. All efforts should privilege Torres Strait Islander peoples’ voices to self‐determine response actions.

Sulfate is an obligate nutrient for fetal growth and development. In mice, the renal Slc13a1 sulfate transporter maintains high maternal circulating levels of sulfate in pregnancy, and the placental Slc13a4 sulfate transporter mediates sulfate supply to the fetus. Both of these genes have been linked to severe embryonal defects and fetal loss in mice. However, the clinical significance of SLC13A1 and SLC13A4 in human gestation is unknown. One approach towards understanding the potential involvement of these genes in human fetal pathologies is to use an animal model, such as the pig, which mimics the developmental trajectory of the human fetus more closely than the previously studied mouse models. In this study, we determined the tissue distribution of pig SLC13A1 and SLC13A4 mRNA, and compared the gene, cDNA and protein sequences of the pig, human and mouse homologues. Pig SLC13A1 mRNA was expressed in the ileum and kidney, whereas pig SLC13A4 mRNA was expressed in the placenta, choroid plexus and eye, which is similar to the tissue distribution in human and mouse. The pig SLC13A1 gene contains 15 exons spread over 76 kb on chromosome 8, and encodes a protein of 594 amino acids that shares 90% and 85% identity with the human and mouse homologues, respectively. The pig SLC13A4 gene is located approximately 11 Mb from SLC13A1 on chromosome 8, and contains 16 exons spanning approximately 70 kb. The pig SLC13A4 protein contains 626 amino acids that share 91% and 90% identity with human and mouse homologues, respectively. The 5’-flanking region of SLC13A1 contains several putative transcription factor binding sites, including GATA-1, GATA-3, Oct1 and TATA-box consensus sequences, which are conserved in the homologous human and mouse sequences. The 5’-flanking sequence of SLC13A4 contains multiple putative transcription factor consensus sites, including GATA-1, TATA-box and Vitamin D responsive elements. This is the first report to define the tissue distribution of pig SLC13A1 and SLC13A4 mRNAs, and compare the gene, cDNA, 5’-flanking region and protein sequences to human and mouse.

Sufficient, well-maintained housing infrastructure can support healthy living practices for hygiene, safety and nutrition. This article focuses on the relationship between housing and health through a case study in the remote Barkly region in the Northern Territory, Australia. A research partnership between Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation and academic researchers employed a mixed methodological approach, involving interviews with residents, clinical and outreach staff, and clinical database analysis. The results revealed much higher levels of crowding in remote communities and in Tennant Creek than officially recorded, with up to 22 residents in surveyed households. Interviews with clinicians and public health staff highlighted the impact of crowding on infection transmission, poor sleep and reduced personal safety, and damage to health hardware. The database analysis detailed the types of preventable, hygiene-related infectious diseases that dominated, with over half of the total infectious disease diagnoses being skin, respiratory and ear, nose and throat infections. Repeated infection likely contributes to increased rates of chronic kidney and rheumatic heart diseases. The combined overall findings highlight the parallel conditions of the prevalence of hygiene-related infectious diseases, crowding and environmental health issues (including health hardware). No objective evidence of direct causal relationships was obtained due to the small scale and methodological limitations of the study. More complex future research is outlined in order to understand how to further investigate the burden of disease that the affects morbidity and mortality of Aboriginal Australians, and underlies the urgency for housing policy reform and funding to upgrade housing.<br/><br />Key messages<br/>Housing is an ongoing, unresolved challenge for many remote-living Aboriginal Australians.<br/><br/>Case-study respondents reported waiting seven years for housing and long delays for maintenance.<br/><br/>Non-functioning ‘health hardware’ and crowding increase the risk of transmission of infectious diseases.<br/><br/>Preventable infections are present in many remote Aboriginal households and can contribute to later chronic heart and kidney conditions.

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