Publications

characterization of virulent west nile virus kunjin strain, australia, 2011.	to determine the cause of an unprecedented outbreak of encephalitis among horses in new south wales, australia, in 2011, we performed genomic sequencing of viruses isolated from affected horses and mosquitoes. results showed that most of the cases were caused by a variant west nile virus (wnv) strain, wnv(nsw2011), that is most closely related to wnv kunjin (wnv(kun)), the indigenous wnv strain in australia. studies in mouse models for wnv pathogenesis showed that wnv(nsw2011) is substantially m ...	0	22516173
should there be a standardised approach to the diagnostic workup of suspected adult encephalitis? a case series from australia.	the clinical diagnosis of encephalitis is often difficult and identification of a causative organism is infrequent. the encephalitis syndrome may herald the emergence of novel pathogens with outbreak potential. individual treatment and an effective public health response rely on identifying a specific pathogen. in australia there have been no studies to try to improve the identification rate of encephalitis pathogens. this study aims to review the diagnostic assessment of adult suspected encepha ...	2010	21159185
clinical and radiological predictors of outcome for murray valley encephalitis.	a review of the laboratory-confirmed cases of murray valley encephalitis (mve) from western australia between 2009 and 2011 was conducted to describe the clinical, laboratory, and radiological features of the disease. the nine encephalitis patients presented with altered mental state and seizures, tremor, weakness, or paralysis. all patients developed a raised c-reactive protein, whereas most developed acute liver injury, neutrophilia, and thrombocytosis. all patients with encephalitis developed ...	2013	23296449
a new insect-specific flavivirus from northern australia suppresses replication of west nile virus and murray valley encephalitis virus in co-infected mosquito cells.	recent reports of a novel group of flaviviruses that replicate only in mosquitoes and appear to spread through insect populations via vertical transmission have emerged from around the globe. to date, there is no information on the presence or prevalence of these insect-specific flaviviruses (isfs) in australian mosquito species. to assess whether such viruses occur locally, we used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr) and flavivirus universal primers that are specific to the ...	2013	23460804
natural exposure of horses to mosquito-borne flaviviruses in south-east queensland, australia.	in 2011 an unprecedented epidemic of equine encephalitis occurred in south-eastern (se) australia following heavy rainfall and severe flooding in the preceding 2-4 months. less than 6% of the documented cases occurred in queensland, prompting the question of pre-existing immunity in queensland horses. a small-scale serological survey was conducted on horses residing in one of the severely flood-affected areas of se-queensland. using a flavivirus-specific blocking-elisa we found that 63% (39/62) ...	2013	24048209