The Relation of Australia to the World Rabies Problem

Pullar, E. Murray; McIntosh, Kelly

doi:10.1111/j.1751-0813.1954.tb05387.x

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Although Australia is currently free of terrestrial rabies, in 1867, a single, probable occurrence of rabies transmission occurred in Tasmania [the large island‐state in south‐eastern Australia]. A child was bitten by a dog that was assumed rabid after the child, several dogs and a pig died shortly after the onset of clinical signs (Pullar and McIntosh, ). No further outbreaks have been recorded in Australia since (Geering, ).…”

Section: Canine Rabies In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Sparkes

Fleming

Ballard

et al. 2014

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Australia is unique as a populated continent in that canine rabies is exotic, with only one likely incursion in 1867. This is despite the presence of a widespread free-ranging dog population, which includes the naturalized dingo, feral domestic dogs and dingo-dog cross-breeds. To Australia's immediate north, rabies has recently spread within the Indonesian archipelago, with outbreaks occurring in historically free islands to the east including Bali, Flores, Ambon and the Tanimbar Islands. Australia depends on strict quarantine protocols to prevent importation of a rabid animal, but the risk of illegal animal movements by fishing and recreational vessels circumventing quarantine remains. Predicting where rabies will enter Australia is important, but understanding dog population dynamics and interactions, including contact rates in and around human populations, is essential for rabies preparedness. The interactions among and between Australia's large populations of wild, free-roaming and restrained domestic dogs require quantification for rabies incursions to be detected and controlled. The imminent risk of rabies breaching Australian borders makes the development of disease spread models that will assist in the deployment of cost-effective surveillance, improve preventive strategies and guide disease management protocols vitally important. Here, we critically review Australia's preparedness for rabies, discuss prevailing assumptions and models, identify knowledge deficits in free-roaming dog ecology relating to rabies maintenance and speculate on the likely consequences of endemic rabies for Australia.

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Section: Canine Rabies In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Sparkes

Fleming

Ballard

et al. 2014

Zoonoses and Public Health

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“…Rabies virus and the rabies‐like viruses are single stranded RNA viruses that belong to the genus Lyssavirus of the family Rhabdoviridae. Until 1996 Australia was considered free of endemic lyssaviruses, although a minor outbreak of rabies involving several dogs occurred in Tasmania in 1867 but was soon eradicated 1 . Only two confirmed cases of rabies virus have been diagnosed in Australia (in 1987 and 1990), but were contracted outside our borders in endemic‐disease countries 2,3 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular diagnosis of lyssaviruses and sequence comparison of Australian bat lyssavirus samples

et al. 2006

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The nested RT-PCR provided a means for molecular diagnosis of all tested genotypes of lyssavirus including classical rabies virus and Australian bat lyssavirus. The published TaqMan assay proved to be superior to the RT-PCR assays for the detection of ABLV in terms of analytical sensitivity. The TaqMan assay would also be faster and cross contamination is less likely. Nucleotide sequence analyses of samples of ABLV from a wide geographical range in Australia demonstrated the conserved nature of this region of the genome and therefore the suitability of this region for molecular diagnosis.

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“…RABV infection has never been documented in the native fauna of Australia. An incursion of RABV was suspected around Hobart (in the island state of Tasmania) in the period 1866–1867 [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Up to five dogs and three pigs were reportedly affected, and five people were bitten (one death) by dogs.…”

Section: The Long-term Risk Of Rabv To Australia: Foresighting Enmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rabies in Our Neighbourhood: Preparedness for an Emerging Infectious Disease

Ward

Brookes

2021

Pathogens

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Emerging infectious disease (EID) events have the potential to cause devastating impacts on human, animal and environmental health. A range of tools exist which can be applied to address EID event detection, preparedness and response. Here we use a case study of rabies in Southeast Asia and Oceania to illustrate, via nearly a decade of research activities, how such tools can be systematically integrated into a framework for EID preparedness. During the past three decades, canine rabies has spread to previously free areas of Southeast Asia, threatening the rabies-free status of countries such as Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and Australia. The program of research to address rabies preparedness in the Oceanic region has included scanning and surveillance to define the emerging nature of canine rabies within the Southeast Asia region; field studies to collect information on potential reservoir species, their distribution and behaviour; participatory and sociological studies to identify priorities for disease response; and targeted risk assessment and disease modelling studies. Lessons learnt include the need to develop methods to collect data in remote regions, and the need to continuously evaluate and update requirements for preparedness in response to evolving drivers of emerging infectious disease.

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The Relation of Australia to the World Rabies Problem

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Canine Rabies inAustralia: A Review of Preparedness and Research Needs

Molecular diagnosis of lyssaviruses and sequence comparison of Australian bat lyssavirus samples

Rabies in Our Neighbourhood: Preparedness for an Emerging Infectious Disease

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