| vectors vs. humans in australia--who is on top down under? an update on vector-borne disease and research on vectors in australia. | australia has a diversity of vectors and vector-borne human diseases. mosquito-borne arboviruses are of greatest concern, but there are issues with other vector and pathogen systems. mosquitoes were responsible for more than 35,000 cases of ross river virus during 1991-1997. barmah forest virus is increasing nationwide, and unidentified bunyaviruses suspected of causing illness have been isolated. cases of murray valley encephalitis have occurred in 14 of the past 20 years in northern australia. ... | 1998 | 9673928 |
| entomological investigations of an outbreak of japanese encephalitis virus in the torres strait, australia, in 1998. | japanese encephalitis (je) virus first appeared in australia in 1995, when three clinical cases (two fatal) were diagnosed in residents on badu island in the torres strait, northern queensland. more recently, two confirmed human je cases were reported in the torres strait islands and cape york peninsula, in northern queensland in 1998. shortly after je virus activity was detected in humans and sentinel pigs on badu island in 1998, adult mosquitoes were collected using co2 and octenol-baited cdc ... | 2001 | 11476340 |
| flavivirus isolations from mosquitoes collected from western cape york peninsula, australia, 1999-2000. | after the 1st appearance of japanese encephalitis virus (je) on mainland australia in 1998, a study was undertaken to investigate whether je had become established in enzootic transmission cycles on western cape york peninsula. adult mosquitoes were collected during the late wet season from kowanyama and pormpuraaw in april 1999, and pormpuraaw and barr's yard in april 2000. despite processing 269,270 mosquitoes for virus isolation, no isolates of je were obtained. however, other flaviviruses co ... | 2003 | 14710742 |
| genetic stability among temporally and geographically diverse isolates of barmah forest virus. | an increase in the incidence of polyarthritis caused by barmah forest (bf) virus, and its recent emergence into western australia, prompted a study of the molecular epidemiology of this australian mosquito-borne alphavirus. the nucleotide sequence of a 500-basepair region of the 3' end of the envelope (e2) gene of the prototype bf virus strain (bh2193) was compared with other members of the alphavirus genus, and to a panel of isolates of bf virus collected more for than 20 years from different g ... | 1997 | 9288821 |
| ord river arboviruses--serological epidemiology. | this paper presents the results of haemagglutination-inhibition tests carried out on sera from 441 persons, 1,080 cattle and 335 birds in the kimberley area. two alphaviruses (group a) (ross river and sindbis) and one flavivirus (murray valley encephalitis) were used for the preparation of haemagglutinins in the haemagglutination-inhibition tests. the tests showed a high percentage of antibody of murray valley encephalitis in humans, birds and cattle, with an obvious focus of infection in the st ... | 1976 | 1021093 |
| communicable diseases surveillance. | | 1997 | 9140103 |
| australia's notifiable diseases status, 1996. annual report of the national notifiable diseases surveillance system. | in 1996 there were 65,024 notifications to the national notifiable diseases surveillance system. the record high number of ross river virus infection notifications was of particular note. the highest rates were recorded in western australia, where an outbreak was documented in the south west, and in queensland. most cases occurred in the late summer and early autumn months. the number of measles cases has continued to fall markedly following the outbreak in 1993 and 1994. rubella notifications a ... | 1997 | 9339602 |
| arboviruses in the australian region, 1990 to 1998. | arboviruses continue to be major human pathogens in the australian region. this report provides a summary of the activities of these viruses over the past eight years, and comments on new findings relevant to their respective ecologies. of particular interest and concern is the propensity of these viruses to spread. the examples discussed include the initiation of dengue epidemics in north queensland by virus imported in viraemic travellers; the spread of japanese encephalitis virus to the austr ... | 1998 | 9648365 |
| genetic heterogeneity among isolates of ross river virus from different geographical regions. | the rnase t1 maps of 80 isolates of ross river virus from different regions of mainland australia and the pacific islands were compared. four different clusters of isolates with greater than an estimated 5 to 6% diversity at the nucleotide level were found. there was a pattern of differences between eastern and western australian strains; however, the pattern was disturbed by overlaps and incursants. pacific islands isolates belonged to the eastern australian topotype. our findings suggest that ... | 1993 | 8497065 |
| arbovirus infections of humans in high-risk areas of south-eastern australia: a continuing study. | to determine the current immune status of high-risk populations of new south wales and victoria to the arboviral pathogens, murray valley encephalitis (mve) and kunjin (kun) viruses, which are associated with australian encephalitis (ae), and ross river (rr) and kokobera (kok) viruses which are associated with polyarthritis. further, to estimate seroconversion rates to these viruses in high-risk populations over the 10-year period 1981-1991. | 1993 | 8393128 |
| ross river virus isolations from mosquitoes in arid regions of western australia: implication of vertical transmission as a means of persistence of the virus. | outbreaks of mosquito-borne ross river (rr) virus disease (epidemic polyarthritis) occur suddenly in the arid north and interior of the state of western australia, often within a few weeks of heavy rainfall. between outbreaks, these regions may undergo long periods of drought, with little or no mosquito or arbovirus activity. the means by which rr virus is reintroduced or reactivated in these areas when environmental conditions favor mosquito-borne virus activity are unknown. in this paper, we d ... | 1993 | 8279636 |
| climate variability and ross river virus infections in riverland, south australia, 1992-2004. | ross river virus (rrv) infection is the most common notifiable vector-borne disease in australia, with around 6000 cases annually. this study aimed to examine the relationship between climate variability and notified rrv infections in the riverland region of south australia in order to set up an early warning system for the disease in temperate-climate regions. notified data of rrv infections were collected by the south australian department of health. climatic variables and monthly river flow w ... | 2009 | 19296873 |
| arbovirus infection in a murray valley community. | serum antibodies to ross river virus and murray valley encephalitis virus were measured during 1974-1975 in residents of echuca, an urban murray valley community. a representative group of volunteers was obtained by random selection of households. the prevalence of antibodies to both viruses increased progressively with age. prevalence was equal in both sexes for both viruses in all age groups, indicating that the risk of infection was mainly determined by geography rather than by personal activ ... | 1986 | 3010928 |
| genetic differentiation of murray valley encephalitis virus in australia and papua new guinea. | the genetic relatedness of ten murray valley encephalitis virus (mve) isolates from australia has been examined by comparing haeiii and taqi restriction digest profiles of cdna to virion rna. the isolates were from the murray valley region of south-eastern australia and from the ord river region of western australia and spanned a period of 23 years (1951-1974). the isolates generated closely similar restriction digest profiles. the extent of similarity suggested that the level of nucleotide sequ ... | 1986 | 2884985 |
| isolation of murray valley encephalitis and ross river viruses from aedes normanensis (diptera: culicidae) in western australia. | of eight viruses isolated from 28,909 female (643 pools) aedes normanensis collected from the north of western australia, two were identified as murray valley encephalitis virus and six as ross river virus. the two isolates of murray valley encephalitis virus represent the first confirmed isolations of this virus from an aedes species. the possible implications of these findings with regard to virus survival mechanisms during the dry season are discussed. | 1989 | 2540334 |
| editorial: arthropod-borne virus infections in a murray valley town. | | 1976 | 1272156 |
| effect on mice of infection during pregnancy with three australian arboviruses. | infection of pregnant mice with ross river or getah viruses after the establishment of a functional placenta resulted in fetal infection with these viruses. however, only with ross river virus was there any significant fetal death. there was significant post-partum mortality in mice infected in utero with ross river but not with getah virus. in contrast, significant post-partum mortality occurred in murray valley encephalitis virus-infected mice despite the inability of the virus to cross the pl ... | 1981 | 6259957 |
| serological evidence of inter-epidemic infection of feral pigs in new south wales with murray valley encephalitis virus. | the sera of 617 feral pigs, collected from three widely separated areas of northern and central new south wales, were examined for antibody to murray valley encephalitis (mve) virus and to ross river virus. haemagglutination-inhibition (hi) antibody was detected to mve in 58% of sera and to ross river virus in 15% of sera. neutralization tests suggested that the mve hi antibody resulted from infection with mve virus in the summers of 1971-1972 and 1972-1973 when the virus was not known to be act ... | 1976 | 1016127 |
| geographic distribution of arbovirus antibodies in indigenous human populations in the indo-australian archipelago. | sera from lifetime residents in 16 localities of the indo-australian archipelago and adjacent areas were tested for hemagglutination-inhibition antibody against four alpha-viruses (sindbis, getah, chikungunya, and ross river) and for neutralizing antibody against six flaviviruses (dengue 2 and 3, japanese encephalitis, murray valley encephalitis, kunjin, and edge hill). mosquito collections were carried out in some of the localities to study vector relationships to distribution of the arbovirus ... | 1979 | 453438 |
| human sentinels for arbovirus surveillance and regional risk classification in south australia. | to assess the use of human sentinels to monitor arbovirus activity in south australia and to use age-specific seroprevalence data from the same sentinels to classify regions according to risk from ross river virus (rrv). | 1994 | 8170425 |
| an outbreak of barmah forest virus disease in the south-west of western australia. | to describe the first reported outbreak of barmah forest (bf) virus disease in the south-west of western australia. | 1995 | 7715489 |
| a climate-based early warning system to predict outbreaks of ross river virus disease in the broome region of western australia. | | 2010 | 20920112 |
| reactive arthritis and vasculitis in a child due to ross river virus infection. | | 2004 | 15588219 |
| australia's notifiable diseases status, 2001: annual report of the national notifiable diseases surveillance system. | in 2001 there were 104,187 notifications of communicable diseases in australia reported to the national notifiable diseases surveillance system (nndss). the number of notifications in 2001 was an increase of 16 per cent of those reported in 2000 (89,740) and the largest annual total since the nndss commenced in 1991. in 2001, nine new diseases were added to the list of diseases reported to nndss and four diseases were removed. the new diseases were cryptosporidiosis, laboratory-confirmed influen ... | 2003 | 12725505 |
| rainfall and vector mosquito numbers as risk indicators for mosquito-borne disease in central australia. | there have been 5 confirmed cases of murray valley encephalitis virus (mve) infection in the alice springs region during the high rainfall years of 1999/00 and 2000/01, compared with one case in the preceding 9 years. there also appeared to be an increased prevalence of ross river virus (rr) infection in the alice springs and tennant creek regions associated with high rainfall. this paper presents an analysis of summer rainfall from 1990/91 to 2000/01, numbers of seroconversion of sentinel chick ... | 2003 | 12725512 |
| proximity to mosquito breeding habitat and ross river virus risk in the peel region of western australia. | it is intuitive that vector-borne disease exposure risk is related to proximity to sources of vector breeding, but this aspect rarely receives empirical testing. the population of western australia (wa) is increasing rapidly, with many new residential developments proposed in close proximity to mosquito breeding habitat. however, potential mosquito-borne disease risks for future residents are given little consideration by planning authorities. the peel region is one of the fastest growing region ... | 0 | 25700045 |
| isolation of ross river virus from mosquitoes and from horses with signs of musculo-skeletal disease. | to report clinical and clinicopathological findings in horses naturally infected with ross river virus (rrv) and identify likely mosquito arbovirus vector species. | 2003 | 15080456 |
| an outbreak of barmah forest virus disease in victoria. | this report describes the epidemiological and clinical features of an outbreak of 47 cases of laboratory-confirmed barmah forest virus disease (bf disease) that occurred in victoria between january and may 2002. laboratory-confirmed cases were investigated, and information on travel history and clinical details was collected. surveillance data from adult mosquito trappings and climatic conditions in the wellington shire were also reviewed. the response rate for interviews was 85 per cent (40/47) ... | 2002 | 12549534 |
| el niño southern oscillation and ross river virus outbreaks in australia. | various authors have suggested a general predictive value of climatic indices of el niño/southern oscillation events as indicators of outbreaks of arbovirus disease, particularly ross river virus in australia. by analyzing over 100 years of historical outbreak data on ross river virus disease, our data indicate that, although high southern oscillation index and la niña conditions are potentially important predictors for the murray darling river region, this is not the case for the other four eco ... | 2004 | 15631065 |
| modelling the transmission dynamics of ross river virus in southwestern australia. | during the 1995-1996 australian financial year, over 1300 notifications of ross river (rr) virus disease were notified in humans from southwestern australia. due to the mild symptoms of the disease, it is difficult to diagnose and subclinical infections are common. however, these subclinical infections do give rise to immunity. for planning and control, it is important for public health authorities to estimate the true number of people who have contracted the disease and to assess the impact of ... | 2002 | 12408224 |
| the incidence of ross river virus disease in south australia, 1992 to 2003. | ross river virus (rrv) disease is the most frequently notified arboviral disease in australia, and the burden of this disease to australian society is significant. we have studied the incidence of rrv disease between 1992 and 2003 in south australia. our findings suggest that the incidence of the disease in south australia over the study period was relatively stable. there were four epidemics in the study period, with the majority of cases acquired from regions along the river murray. there was ... | 2005 | 16220867 |
| communicable diseases network australia: national arbovirus and malaria advisory committee annual report 2004-05. | this report describes the epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease in australia for the mosquito-borne disease season 1 july 2004 to 30 june 2005. ross river virus (rrv) infections (45%), barmah forest virus (bfv) infections (30%) and malaria (19%) were the most common mosquito-borne diseases reported in 2004-05. the northern territory had the highest rate of rrv notifications and the peak notification rate (in february 2005) was 54 per cent less than the previous season. the northern territory al ... | 2005 | 16465923 |
| isolation of arboviruses from mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) collected from the gulf plains region of northwest queensland, australia. | as part of investigations into japanese encephalitis (je) virus and related flaviviruses in northern australia, 153,529 mosquitoes were collected and processed for virus isolation from the gulf plains region of northwest queensland. collections from within 30 km of each of the townships of croydon, normanton and karumba yielded 3,087 (2.0%), 66,009 (43.0%), and 84,433 (55.0%) mosquitoes, respectively, from which 16 viruses were isolated. four isolates of murray valley encephalitis (mve), two of ... | 2002 | 12349863 |
| communicable diseases network australia national arbovirus and malaria advisory committee annual report, 2005-06. | this report describes the epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease in australia for the mosquito-borne disease season 1 july 2005 to 30 june 2006, in which the second largest number of notifications since 1995-96 was reported. ross river virus (rrv) infections (66%), barmah forest virus (bfv) infections (23%) and malaria (9%) were the most common mosquito-borne diseases reported in 2005-06. national rrv notifications were the fifth largest on record. the northern territory had the highest rate of ... | 2006 | 17330382 |
| communicable diseases network australia national arbovirus and malaria advisory committee annual report, 2006-07. | this report describes the epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease in australia for the mosquito-borne disease season 1 july 2006 to 30 june 2007, which was moderately low compared to previous seasons. ross river virus (rrv) infections (55%), barmah forest virus (bfv) infections (29%) and overseas acquired malaria (11%) were the most common mosquito-borne diseases reported in 2006-07. the number, proportion and rate of national bfv notifications were the second highest on record since 1998-99. the ... | 2008 | 18522303 |
| development and evaluation of a species diagnostic polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism procedure for cryptic members of the culex sitiens (diptera: culicidae) subgroup in australia and the southwest pacific. | members of the culex sitiens subgroup are important vectors of arboviruses, including japanese encephalitis virus, murray valley encephalitis virus and ross river virus. of the eight described species, cx. annulirostris skuse, cx. sitiens wiedemann, and cx. palpalis taylor appear to be the most abundant and widespread throughout northern australia and papua new guinea (png). recent investigations using allozymes have shown this subgroup to contain cryptic species that possess overlapping adult m ... | 2002 | 11931037 |
| impact of dryland salinity on population dynamics of vector mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) of ross river virus in inland areas of southwestern western australia. | clearing of native vegetation for agriculture since european settlement has left 1.047 million ha of southwestern australia affected by a severe form of environmental degradation called dryland salinity, characterized by secondary soil salinization and waterlogging. this area may expand by a further 1.7-3.4 million ha if current trends continue. detailed investigations of seasonal of adult and larval mosquito population dynamics were undertaken in the region to test the hypothesis that the devel ... | 2008 | 19058624 |
| population health aspects of mosquito-borne disease in new south wales. | | 2004 | 15711613 |
| dryland salinity and the ecology of ross river virus: the ecological underpinnings of the potential for transmission. | alterations in transmission of vector-borne zoonoses are often linked to environmental change. however, ecological processes that determine variability in potential for transmission are generally not well understood. ross river virus (rrv, togoviridae: alphavirus) is a mosquito-borne zoonosis in australia with a significant human disease burden. the inland southwest (wheatbelt) of western australia (wa) is substantially affected by an anthropogenic salinization of agricultural land (dryland sali ... | 2009 | 19326966 |
| early warning of ross river virus epidemics: combining surveillance data on climate and mosquitoes. | ross river virus disease is spread by mosquitoes, and an average of 5000 people are infected each year in australia. it is one of the few infectious diseases for which climate-based early warning systems could be developed. the aim of this study was to test whether supplementing routinely collected climate data with mosquito surveillance data could increase the accuracy of disease prediction models. | 2006 | 16837824 |
| applying cusum-based methods for the detection of outbreaks of ross river virus disease in western australia. | the automated monitoring of routinely collected disease surveillance data has the potential to ensure that important changes in disease incidence are promptly recognised. however, few studies have established whether the signals produced by automated monitoring methods correspond with events considered by epidemiologists to be of public health importance. this study investigates the correspondence between retrospective epidemiological evaluation of notifications of ross river virus (rrv) disease ... | 2008 | 18700044 |
| the roles of predators, competitors, and secondary salinization in structuring mosquito (diptera: culicidae) assemblages in ephemeral water bodies of the wheatbelt of western australia. | studies that consider both biotic and abiotic determinants of organisms are rare, but critical to delineate underlying determinants of community richness (number of taxa) and abundance (number of larvae per water body). in this study, we consider the importance of disturbance (salinity) and predator and competitor variables on mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) in small ephemeral water bodies across the wheatbelt of western australia. similar to mosquitoes, and contrary to general perceptions, nonc ... | 2010 | 20550792 |
| vector competence of culex pipiens quinquefasciatus for murray valley encephalitis, kunjin, and ross river viruses from australia. | australian populations of culex pipiens quinquefasciatus say from brisbane, charleville, cairns, kowanyama (queensland), darwin (northern territory), mildura (victoria), and port hedland (western australia) proved to be either poorly susceptible or refractory to oral infection with low passage level murray valley encephalitis, kunjin, and ross river viruses. with respect to past or future epidemics of murray valley encephalitis or kunjin (both known to cause clinical encephalitis in man), and of ... | 1982 | 6285750 |
| environmental and entomological factors determining ross river virus activity in the river murray valley of south australia. | 1) to determine whether environmental and mosquito abundance variables could be used to explain fluctuations in the activity of ross river (rr) virus, in the river murray valley of south australia (sa). 2) to develop models at the local government spatial scale to understand local variability in rr activity factors. | 2009 | 19630851 |
| "looking over the backyard fence": householders and mosquito control. | (1) background: vector-borne diseases are a significant public health problem in western australia. mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of a number of pathogens and may pose a serious nuisance problem. prevention efforts in the state are multi-faceted and include physical, chemical, and cultural control methods for restricting mosquito breeding. this is less complex where breeding areas are located within public open spaces. in australia's developed urban areas, breeding sites are, h ... | 2017 | 28257079 |
| the seroprevalence and factors associated with ross river virus infection in western grey kangaroos (macropus fuliginosus) in western australia. | a serosurvey was undertaken in 15 locations in the midwest to southwest of western australia (wa) to investigate the seroprevalence of ross river virus (rrv) neutralizing antibodies and factors associated with infection in western grey kangaroos (macropus fuliginosus). the estimated seroprevalence in 2632 kangaroo samples, using a serum neutralization test, was 43.9% (95% ci 42.0, 45.8). location was significantly associated with seroprevalence (p<0.001). there was a strong positive correlation ... | 2014 | 25325318 |
| geographic information systems used to describe the link between the risk of ross river virus infection and proximity to the leschenault estuary, wa. | to investigate the relationship between risk of ross river virus (rrv) infection and proximity to mosquito-breeding habitat surrounding a tidal wetland ecosystem in south-west australia. | 2012 | 22672028 |
| colonization of ephemeral water bodies in the wheatbelt of western australia by assemblages of mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae): role of environmental factors, habitat, and disturbance. | environmental disturbance may have direct and indirect impacts on organisms. we studied the colonization of ephemeral water bodies by mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) in the wheatbelt region of southwest western australia, an area substantially affected by an expanding anthropogenic salinization. mosquitoes frequently colonized ephemeral water bodies, responded positively to rainfall, and populated smaller water bodies more densely than larger water bodies. we found that the habitat characteristi ... | 2009 | 20021752 |
| deployable molecular detection of arboviruses in the australian outback. | the most common causes of human infection from the arboviruses that are endemic in australia are the arthritogenic alphaviruses: ross river virus (rrv) and barmah forest virus (bfv). the most serious infections are caused by the neurotropic flaviviruses, murray valley encephalitis virus (mvev) and the kunjin subtype of west nile virus. the greatest individual risk of arbovirus infection occurs in tropical/subtropical northern australia because of the warm, wet summer conditions from december to ... | 2016 | 27402516 |
| toponymous diseases of australia. | names are more than just labels used to identify diseases. they can be windows into the discovery, characteristics and attributes of the disease. toponymous diseases are diseases that are named after places. hendra, ross river, bairnsdale, murray valley and barmah forest are all examples of australian places that have had diseases named after them. they all have unique and interesting stories that provide a glimpse into their discovery, history and culture. because of perceived negative connotat ... | 2010 | 21143049 |
| dryland salinity and vector-borne disease emergence in southwestern australia. | broad-scale clearing of native vegetation for agriculture in southwestern australia has resulted in severe ecosystem degradation, which has been compounded by the subsequent development of large areas of dryland salinity; decreased transevaporation allows the water table to rise, dissolving ancient aeolian salt deposits and creating saline surface pools. the mosquito-borne disease ross river virus has been noted as a potential adverse human health outcome in salinity-affected regions because the ... | 2011 | 21416220 |
| ross river virus risk associated with dispersal of aedes (ochlerotatus) camptorhynchus (thomson) from breeding habitat into surrounding residential areas: muddy lakes, western australia. | rapid population growth in western australia has resulted in increased development of land for residential housing, and new developments are often proposed close to water because of intrinsic aesthetic values. however, this placement may place future residents at risk of mosquito-borne disease, of which ross river virus (rrv) disease is the most common in australia. mosquito dispersal data were combined with a spatial analysis of human rrv cases to show that mosquitoes dispersed readily from lar ... | 2014 | 24799370 |
| the viruses of australia and the risk to tourists. | australia is a climatically diverse country varying from a tropical climate in the north to arid central desert and grassland regions, and to temperate climates in the south. there are many viral infections found in australia that are common to developed countries worldwide, but this article will focus on those that pose a special risk for travellers to australia, especially the mosquito-borne viruses. the commonest are the members of the alphavirus genus, particularly ross river virus and barma ... | 2011 | 21679887 |