Hume is an international authority on emerging infectious diseases associated with bats, including SARS-like coronaviruses and Nipah virus. His formal qualifications include veterinary science, environmental science and infectious disease epidemiology. He is a respected consultant to government and industry, and works with EcoHealth Alliance as Science and Policy Adviser for China and Southeast Asia. EcoHealth Alliance is a global environmental health nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and public health from the emergence of disease. www.ecohealthalliance.org
He has played a key role in the identification of various species of bats as the natural reservoir of Hendra virus and Australian bat lyssavirus (Australia), Nipah virus (Malaysia and Indonesia), SARS-like coronaviruses (China), and Reston Ebolavirus (Philippines).
His 'big picture’ perspective is very much ecosystem health, highlighting the connection between environmental, livestock, and human health. His research focus remains the ecology of emerging diseases associated with bats.