{"id":283459,"date":"2026-02-14T07:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T07:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/283459\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T07:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T07:05:11","slug":"researcher-working-on-samoan-medicinal-knowledge-and-virology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/283459\/","title":{"rendered":"Researcher Working On Samoan Medicinal Knowledge And Virology"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Radio<\/a>
\nSaturday, 14 February 2026, 6:46 pm
Article: RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

RNZ
\nPacific<\/a><\/p>\n

Traditional medicines in Samoa
\nand Aotearoa are being investigated for their potential to
\ntreat viral illnesses.<\/p>\n

Auckland University’s senior
\nlecturer Natalie Netzler – Ng\u0101ti Ruanui, Ng\u0101ti Hau\u0101 and
\nSamoa – Moto’otua, Falealili – is working on combining
\nindigenous medicinal knowledge and virology to find
\ntreatments for diseases such as dengue, Zika, and
\nmeasles.<\/p>\n

She told RNZ Nine to Noon that from an
\nearly age, the value of indigenous medicine has been
\nembedded in her.<\/p>\n

“When we were growing up, if we had a
\nheadache, we would always go to Dad, who would give us a
\ntraditional Samoan massage, called a fofo,” she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite a firm massage and I have to say, as
\na child, I remember thinking that my skull was going to be
\ncrushed in his massive hands, but as soon as he lifted his
\nhands away, then the headache was gone, just like Samoan
\nmagic.”<\/p>\n

Netzler said her work’s main drive is to find
\nbroad spectrum anti-virals – essentially, one drug to cure
\nlots of bugs.<\/p>\n

She said last year, study funding led
\nfinding two Samoan traditional medicines that were effective
\nagainst the virus that causes covid.<\/p>\n

She said she is
\nworking closely with a number of trusted relationships in
\nboth Samoa and Aotearoa, mostly in Muriwhenua in the Far
\nNorth.<\/p>\n

“We establish independent governance, we make
\nsure that we co-design the study, and then once it’s in the
\nlab, then I test it against a number of viruses to see if it
\ncan actually work as an antiviral.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

“It’s obviously
\nreally important that we protect both the taonga species of
\nthe plant as well as the indigenous intellectual property.
\nIt’s really important that we make sure that everything we
\ndo is sustainable, so that we’re not damaging the
\nwhenua.<\/p>\n

“The last thing we want is for extractive
\nprocesses where all of a sudden ‘Big Pharma’ come in and
\nplant like 100 acres of these plants and it’s all very
\nremoved from the way it should be done.”<\/p>\n

She said if
\nthe medicine appears to be effective against the virus, that
\ninformation is relayed back to traditional healers. She also
\nworks with chemists.<\/p>\n

“If we found a traditional Samoan
\nmedicine that has already been used for millennia for
\ntreating, say, respiratory disease or arthritis, and we know
\nit’s safe and effective for that use – if we can show that
\nit’s effective against dengue, then we communicate that back
\nto the traditional healers, and they can start implementing
\nthat straight away.<\/p>\n

“What we would envisage for
\nsomething more large scale is … working with the chemist
\nto find something unique and patentable that could then be
\nsynthesized in a lab on a large scale, as opposed to making
\na production line.<\/p>\n

“But it’s not to say that there
\ncouldn’t be a side commercial opportunity for these
\ncommunity partners to maybe come up with their own
\nnutraceuticals and develop it in their own way, as kaitiaki
\nof their own whenua.”<\/p>\n

Dengue in
\nAotearoa<\/p>\n

Currently, the country does not have the
\nmosquitoes that transmit the disease, but Netzler said
\nglobal warming could change that.<\/p>\n

Last year, the World
\nHealth Organisation’s Pacific technical support director Dr
\nMark Jacobs said July regional data showed the
\nnumber of suspected dengue cases was at the highest since
\n2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Samoa is still grappling with cases, and the
\nCook Islands announced the
\nfirst dengue-related death of their current outbreak<\/a>
\nearlier this month.<\/p>\n

“I think we’re really at the brunt
\nof global warming in the Pacific. And so what we’re seeing
\nis that the rainy season seems to be lasting longer, and
\nthese dengue outbreaks, which are usually just confined to
\nthe rainy season, they are sort of scattered throughout the
\nyear now,” Netzler said.<\/p>\n

“We’re getting a large number
\nof dengue imports into Aotearoa New Zealand every year. The
\nkey difference with the Pacific nations and [New Zealand] is
\nthat currently we don’t have the Aedes mosquitoes that can
\ntransmit dengue and Zika.<\/p>\n

“However, with global
\nwarming up in the Far North, we are actually now warm enough
\nto support the overwintering of … those species in the
\nwater. And so what that means is that, with dengue being
\nimported all the time here, and with the chance of the
\nmosquito coming in, we really are under great risk of
\ngetting local transmission of dengue and Zika. And so we
\nreally need to be ahead of that game.”<\/p>\n

Dengue cases
\nhave been imported into New Zealand, but cannot be
\ntransmitted
\nperson-to-person.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Radio<\/a><\/p>\n

New Zealand’s public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries.<\/p>\n

Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter.<\/p>\n

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