Associations Between Ross River Virus Infection in Humans and Vector-Vertebrate Community Ecology in Brisbane, Australia

Skinner, Eloise B; Murphy, Amanda K.; Jansen, Cassie C.; Shivas, Martin A.; McCallum, Hamish; Onn, Michael B.; Reid, Simon; Peel, Alison J.

doi:10.1089/vbz.2019.2585

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…HI assays were often difficult to standardize [ 28 ] and measuring neutralization titers using mortality readouts in suckling mice [ 29 ] may be complicated by the different abilities of GETV and RRV to replicate in murine systems (see Figure 3 E,F). Circulation of RRV causing human disease in Australia and the Pacific Islands is well described [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 58 ], with a range of animals species (including cows, horses and pigs) also infected [ 30 , 33 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. The very high level of overlapping cross-reactivity illustrated herein between sera known to be raised by RRV or GETV infections, argues that it would be difficult to distinguish between past infections with GETV and past infections with RRV.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequencing of Historical Isolates, K-mer Mining and High Serological Cross-Reactivity with Ross River Virus Argue against the Presence of Getah Virus in Australia

et al. 2020

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Getah virus (GETV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus primarily associated with disease in horses and pigs in Asia. GETV was also reported to have been isolated from mosquitoes in Australia in 1961; however, retrieval and sequencing of the original isolates (N544 and N554), illustrated that these viruses were virtually identical to the 1955 GETVMM2021 isolate from Malaysia. K-mer mining of the >40,000 terabases of sequence data in the Sequence Read Archive followed by BLASTn confirmation identified multiple GETV sequences in biosamples from Asia (often as contaminants), but not in biosamples from Australia. In contrast, sequence reads aligning to the Australian Ross River virus (RRV) were readily identified in Australian biosamples. To explore the serological relationship between GETV and other alphaviruses, an adult wild-type mouse model of GETV was established. High levels of cross-reactivity and cross-protection were evident for convalescent sera from mice infected with GETV or RRV, highlighting the difficulties associated with the interpretation of early serosurveys reporting GETV antibodies in Australian cattle and pigs. The evidence that GETV circulates in Australia is thus not compelling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequencing of Historical Isolates, K-mer Mining and High Serological Cross-Reactivity with Ross River Virus Argue against the Presence of Getah Virus in Australia

et al. 2020

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“…The risk of arbovirus transmission to both humans and wildlife is influenced by the environment and is therefore spatially heterogeneous. Distinct patterns of increased human RRV risk in southeast Queensland (SEQ) appear to be driven by environmental changes in vector-vertebrate communities 21 , 28 , but little is known of the factors driving environmental and spatial risks of RRV transmission to endemic wildlife. In the present study, we demonstrate that RRV seropositivity in koalas can be far greater than that reported for other marsupial species 17 , 29 and other circulating arboviruses such as BFV 15 , 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Primary vertebrate hosts are often assumed to be native macropods (e.g. wallabies and kangaroos), but there is considerable debate as to which animals are the primary hosts in urban landscapes where macropods are uncommon but where spillover to humans is often pronounced 20 , 21 . Although koalas can be locally abundant in the urban landscape as long as suitable green space exists, their relative scarcity and irregular distribution in that environment makes them an unlikely amplifying host for RRV.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental and ecological determinants of elevated Ross River Virus exposure in koalas residing in urban coastal landscapes

Johnson

Robbins

Gyawali

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Koala populations in many areas of Australia have declined sharply in response to habitat loss, disease and the effects of climate change. Koalas may face further morbidity from endemic mosquito-borne viruses, but the impact of such viruses is currently unknown. Few seroprevalence studies in the wild exist and little is known of the determinants of exposure. Here, we exploited a large, spatially and temporally explicit koala survey to define the intensity of Ross River Virus (RRV) exposure in koalas residing in urban coastal environments in southeast Queensland, Australia. We demonstrate that RRV exposure in koalas is much higher (> 80%) than reported in other sero-surveys and that exposure is uniform across the urban coastal landscape. Uniformity in exposure is related to the presence of the major RRV mosquito vector, Culex annulirostris, and similarities in animal movement, tree use, and age-dependent increases in exposure risk. Elevated exposure ultimately appears to result from the confinement of remaining coastal koala habitat to the edges of permanent wetlands unsuitable for urban development and which produce large numbers of competent mosquito vectors. The results further illustrate that koalas and other RRV-susceptible vertebrates may serve as useful sentinels of human urban exposure in endemic areas.

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“…Alteration of weather conditions due to climate change and increased urbanisation may impact the population of vertebrate hosts of Ross River virus in the area, and further studies would be needed to assess these potential impacts. Few models have been developed to investigate the role of vertebrate hosts, although vertebrate biomass, particularly that of horses, has been indicated as an area for future modelling (Choi et al, 2002;Jacups et al, 2008;Skinner et al, 2020). Higher temperatures may decrease or increase viral replication within the mosquito, and rates of disease are also related more broadly to socioeconomic status and public health services available in the area (Githeko et al, 2000;Gage et al, 2008), however as previous studies have linked higher mosquito numbers to increased Ross River virus activity (Choi et al, 2002;Glass, 2005;Tong et al, 2005;Woodruff et al, 2006;Williams et al, 2009), at least some increase in disease incidence could be expected.…”

Section: Mosquito Control Programmes and Mosquito-borne Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a regional climate change model for Aedes vigilax and Aedes camptorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Perth, Western Australia

Staples,

Neville,

Richardson

et al. 2024

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Mosquito-borne disease is a significant public health issue and within Australia Ross River virus (RRV) is the most reported. This study combines a mechanistic model of mosquito development for two mosquito vectors; Aedes vigilax and Aedes camptorhynchus, with climate projections from three climate models for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), to examine the possible effects of climate change and sea-level rise on a temperate tidal saltmarsh habitat in Perth, Western Australia. The projections were run under no accretion and accretion scenarios using a known mosquito habitat as a case study. This improves our understanding of the possible implications of sea-level rise, accretion and climate change for mosquito control programmes for similar habitats across temperate tidal areas found in Southwest Western Australia. The output of the model indicate that the proportion of the year mosquitoes are active increases. Population abundances of the two Aedes species increase markedly. The main drivers of changes in mosquito population abundances are increases in the frequency of inundation of the tidal wetland and size of the area inundated, increased minimum water temperature, and decreased daily temperature fluctuations as water depth increases due to sea level changes, particularly under the model with no accretion. The effects on mosquito populations are more marked for RCP 8.5 when compared to RCP 4.5 but were consistent among the three climate change models. The results indicate that Ae. vigilax is likely to be the most abundant species in 2030 and 2050, but that by 2070 Aedes camptorhynchus may become the more abundant species. This increase would put considerable pressure on existing mosquito control programmes and increase the risk of mosquito-borne disease and nuisance biting to the local community, and planning to mitigate these potential impacts should commence now.

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Associations Between Ross River Virus Infection in Humans and Vector-Vertebrate Community Ecology in Brisbane, Australia

Cited by 7 publications

References 44 publications

Sequencing of Historical Isolates, K-mer Mining and High Serological Cross-Reactivity with Ross River Virus Argue against the Presence of Getah Virus in Australia

Sequencing of Historical Isolates, K-mer Mining and High Serological Cross-Reactivity with Ross River Virus Argue against the Presence of Getah Virus in Australia

The environmental and ecological determinants of elevated Ross River Virus exposure in koalas residing in urban coastal landscapes

Development of a regional climate change model for Aedes vigilax and Aedes camptorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Perth, Western Australia

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