Publications

susceptibility of canine and feline escherichia coli and canine staphylococcus intermedius isolates to fluoroquinolones.	1) a prospective study to determine in vitro concentrations for a range of fluoroquinolones, gentamicin and amoxycillin-clavulanate required to inhibit growth of recently collected, feline and canine escherichia coli and canine staphylococcus intermedius isolates. 2) a comparative retrospective study to compare the minimum inhibitory concentrations (mics) of ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and amoxycillin-clavulanate for archived canine e coli and s intermedius isolates collected ten to twenty years ...	2008	18363989
isolates of cryptococcus neoformans from infected animals reveal genetic exchange in unisexual, alpha mating type populations.	sexual reproduction and genetic exchange are important for the evolution of fungal pathogens and for producing potentially infective spores. studies to determine whether sex occurs in the pathogenic yeast cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii have produced enigmatic results, however: basidiospores are the most likely infective propagules, and clinical isolates are fertile and genetically diverse, consistent with a sexual species, but almost all populations examined consist of a single mating type ...	2008	18552280
cross-sectional study of canine leptospirosis in animal shelter populations in mainland australia.	to measure the prevalence of canine leptospirosis in queensland and to detect infection, if present, in new south wales, victoria, south australia, western australia and the northern territory by measuring the serological titres of dogs held in animal shelters.	2008	18673473
demographics and husbandry of pet cats living in sydney, australia: results of cross-sectional survey of pet ownership.	our aim was to collect baseline data on the age, gender, breed, reproductive status and husbandry (housing, diet, vaccination, veterinary attention) of pet cats living in sydney. accordingly, a cross-sectional survey of 2768 households was conducted using a postal questionnaire. the 2006 sydney residential phone book was used as the sampling frame. non-responders were re-mailed the questionnaire on two further occasions, 2 and 4 weeks after the first posting. completed questionnaires were receiv ...	2009	19070524
review article: animal bites: an update for management with a focus on infections.	animal bites are a significant public health problem, with an estimated 2% of the population bitten each year. the majority of bites are from dogs and risk factors include young children, men, certain dog breeds and unrestrained dogs. the risk of infection following bites differs among animal species and is dependent on animal dentition and oral flora. recent studies have demonstrated a broad range of pathogens isolated from infected bite wounds, with pasteurella species being the predominant is ...	2008	19125823
characteristics of bipolar disorder in an australian specialist outpatient clinic: comparison across large datasets.	there have been relatively few detailed reports on the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of bipolar disorder in large outpatient clinical samples. this paper reports on findings from the black dog institute bipolar disorders clinic (bdi-bdc) and compares this dataset with the predominantly outpatient stanley foundation bipolar disorders network (sfbn) and systematic treatment enhancement program for bipolar disorder (step-bd) samples.	2009	19153918
the australian twin study of gambling (oz-gam): rationale, sample description, predictors of participation, and a first look at sources of individual differences in gambling involvement.	two major challenges to conducting a community-based twin study of pathological gambling (pg) disorder are that: (a) it is relatively rare, and (b) individuals with the disorder in the community may be difficult to locate and recruit. we describe a new study of 4,764 individuals recruited from the australian twin registry in which we attempt to effectively deal with the first challenge and examine the impact of the second challenge. the lifetime prevalence of dsm-iv pg in this australian twin sa ...	2009	19210181
cytopathological and histopathological diagnosis of canine splenic disorders.	to determine (1) the common types of canine splenic disorders, and the breeds affected, that are diagnosed by cytopathological and histopathological examination in sydney, australia and (2) the accuracy of cytopathological examination compared with histopathological examination for the diagnosis of canine splenic disorders.	2009	19382924
dermatoses caused by infestations of immature ixodes spp. on dogs and cats in sydney, australia.	infestations of larval and nymphal ixodes spp. were identified in 16 dogs and 16 cats from several small animal clinics in sydney. cases occurred in late summer or autumn, peaking in february, and were seasonally recurrent in some individuals. clinical signs of infestation included a papular dermatitis and irritation or pruritus that ranged from severe to mild or absent. the distribution of tick attachment tended to be cranial and ventral, with the face, legs, axillae and ventrum the most common ...	2009	19382925
ultrasonographic and surgical findings of a gastric hyperplastic polyp resulting in pyloric obstruction in an 11-week-old french bulldog.	an 11-week-old male entire french bulldog was presented with a 3-week history of projectile vomiting after eating that was unresponsive to medical therapy. ultrasonographic examination revealed a 1 x 2 cm pedunculated polypoid mass in the pyloric antrum. histopathology showed this to be comprised of a pedunculated hyperplastic proliferation of gastric mucosal epithelium and submucosa, with dilatation of the glandular pits and a moderate degree of submucosal fibrosis and small amount of smooth mu ...	2009	19489785
isolation of toxoplasma gondii from the brain of a dog in australia and its biological and molecular characterization.	toxoplasma gondii was isolated from the brain of a young dog for the first time in australia. the identity of the parasite was confirmed by pcr, western blotting, electron microscopy and cat bioassay. genotyping of the isolate (tgdgau1) was determined by pcr-rflp markers that showed it to be a type ii strain. western blotting demonstrated the presence of igm antibodies to t. gondii suggesting the bitch was probably infected during pregnancy and the t. gondii was transmitted to the pups congenita ...	2009	19556061
bites and stings.	of the 426 bite or sting problems managed, 312 (73%) were caused by insects. there were 114 other types of bites recorded, the most common being dog and spider bites. there were five cases of toxicity from aquatic animal stings or adverse reactions to bee stings (table 1).	2009	19893830
investigation of equine influenza transmission in nsw: walk, wind or wing?	objectives: an outbreak of equine influenza occurred in new south wales in 2007. in addition to the local spread of the disease between bordering properties, windborne spread over several kilometres had been postulated as a possible method of transmission in this outbreak. this study aimed to describe potential modes of transmission for a property infected with equine influenza where no apparent epidemiological links to other infected properties were reported. methods: a semi-structured question ...	2009	19917207
the use of drug detection dogs in sydney, australia.	at present there is little research into the use of drug detection dogs. the present study sought to explore the use of detection dogs in sydney, australia, utilising multiple data sources. design and methods; data were taken from interviews with 100 regular ecstasy users and 20 key experts as part of the 2006 new south wales arm of the ecstasy and related drugs reporting system, and secondary data sources.	2009	19930020
individual, social and environmental correlates of physical activity among women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.	women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods are at heightened risk for physical inactivity, but little is known about the correlates of physical activity among this group. using a social-ecological framework, this study aimed to determine the individual, social and neighbourhood environmental correlates of physical activity amongst women living in such neighbourhoods. during 2007-2008 women (n = 4108) aged 18-45 years randomly selected from urban and rural neighbourhoods of lo ...	2010	20362380
pet ownership and adolescent health: cross-sectional population study.	to determine whether adolescent health and well-being are associated with having a pet in the household (any pet, or specifically dogs, cats or horses/ponies) or average daily time spent caring for/playing with pet(s).	2010	20825613
'the black dog just came and sat on my face and built a kennel': gay men making sense of depression.	this article reports on in-depth interviews with gay men about their experiences and understanding of depression. it is a key outcome of the collaboration between social researchers, general practitioners and community partners to investigate the management of depression in gay men in primary care settings. as part of the qualitative arm of the project in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 gay men in sydney and adelaide (australia). the approach to discourse analysis is informed by halliday ...	2010	21169202
pain and rejection sensitivity in bipolar depression.	little is known regarding the correlates of pain in bipolar disorder. recent neuroimaging studies support the contention that depression, as well as pain distress and rejection distress, share the same neurobiological circuits. in a recently published study, we confirmed the hypothesis that perception of increased pain during treatment-refractory depression, predominantly unipolar, was related to increased rejection sensitivity. in the present study, we aimed to test this same hypothesis for bip ...	2011	21320253
carriage of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus by veterinarians in australia.	to estimate the prevalence of carriage of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) among australian veterinarians.	2011	21495985
phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships in ixodesholocyclus and ixodescornuatus (acari: ixodidae) inferred from cox1 and its2 sequences.	we inferred the phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships in ticks, which were identified morphologically as ixodes holocyclus and ixodes cornuatus, from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (its2) sequences. we obtained cox1 (640bp) and its2 (527-568bp) sequences from 429 ticks from 49 localities in tasmania, victoria, new south wales and queensland, australia. our analyses show that there are two species of ixodes in eastern australia ...	2011	21540032
the influence of the built environment, social environment and health behaviors on body mass index. results from reside.	objective: to examine the individual, behavioral, social and built environment correlates of body mass index (bmi) in an australian adult population. method: using data from 2003 to 2005 on 1151 participants in the residential environments project (reside), perth, western australia, linear regression was used to construct multivariate models to examine the variance in bmi explained by significant socio-demographic, environmental and health behavior variables. both self-report and gis-derived mea ...	2011	21609730
infection of dogs with equine influenza virus: evidence for transmission from horses during the australian outbreak.	during the equine influenza (ei) outbreak, respiratory disease was observed in dogs that were in close proximity to infected horses. investigations were undertaken to exclude influenza virus infection. of the 23 dogs that were seropositive in tests using the influenza a/sydney/2007 virus as the test antigen, 10 showed clinical signs. ei virus appeared to be readily transmitted to dogs that were held in close proximity to infected horses, but there was no evidence of lateral transmission of the v ...	2011	21711279
are drug detection dogs and mass-media campaigns likely to be effective policy responses to psychostimulant use and related harm? results from an agent-based simulation model.	background: agent-based simulation models can be used to explore the impact of policy and practice on drug use and related consequences. in a linked paper (perez et al., 2011), we described simamph, an agent-based simulation model for exploring the use of psychostimulants and related harm amongst young australians. methods: in this paper, we use the model to simulate the impact of two policy scenarios on engagement in drug use and experience of drug-related harm: (i) the use of passive-alert det ...	2011	21742481
integrating science into management of ecosystems in the greater blue mountains.	effective management of large protected conservation areas is challenged by political, institutional and environmental complexity and inconsistency. knowledge generation and its uptake into management are crucial to address these challenges. we reflect on practice at the interface between science and management of the greater blue mountains world heritage area (gbmwha), which covers approximately 1 million hectares west of sydney, australia. multiple government agencies and other stakeholders ar ...	2011	21779905
Evaluating the utility of a bipolar self-test screening measure.	To detail the methodology of an online study designed to test the utility of a bipolar self-test screening measure.	2011	21879866
animal bites and rabies exposure in australian travellers.	to examine the circumstances of animal exposure in a case series of australian travellers who required rabies postexposure prophylaxis, and to assess the appropriateness of current guidelines for rabies pre-exposure vaccination.	2011	22171863
oocysts and high seroprevalence of neospora caninum in dogs living in remote aboriginal communities and wild dogs in australia.	canines are definitive hosts of neospora caninum (apicomplexa). for horizontal transmission from canines to occur, viable oocysts of n. caninum must occur in the environment of susceptible intermediate hosts. canids in australia include wild dogs and aboriginal community dogs. wild dogs are those dogs that are not dependent on humans for survival and consist of the dingo, feral domestic dog and their hybrid genotypes. aboriginal community dogs are dependent on humans, domesticated and owned by a ...	2011	22245069
rabies disease dynamics in naïve dog populations in australia.	currently, australia is free from terrestrial rabies but an incursion from nearby indonesia, where the virus is endemic, is a feasible threat. here, we aimed to determine whether the response to a simulated rabies incursion would vary between three extant australian dog populations; free-roaming domestic dogs from a remote indigenous community in northern australia, and free-roaming domestic and wild dogs in peri-urban areas of north-east new south wales. we further sought to predict how differe ...	2016	27544262
contact rates of wild-living and domestic dog populations in australia: a new approach.	dogs (canis familiaris) can transmit pathogens to other domestic animals, humans and wildlife. both domestic and wild-living dogs are ubiquitous within mainland australian landscapes, but their interactions are mostly unquantified. consequently, the probability of pathogen transfer among wild-living and domestic dogs is unknown. to address this knowledge deficit, we established 65 camera trap stations, deployed for 26,151 camera trap nights, to quantify domestic and wild-living dog activity duri ...	2016	27660202