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Published Resources Details Journal Article
- Title
- Studies of the epidemiology of arthropod-borne virus infections at Mitchell River Mission, Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland IV. Arbovirus infections of mosquitoes and mammals, 1967-1969
- In
- Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Imprint
- vol. 65, no. 4, 1971, pp. 504-513
- Url
- http://trstmh.oxfordjournals.org/content/65/4/504.short
- Abstract
Studies of arbovirus epidemiology at Mitchell River were continued in 1967-1969 by further mosquito collections in February-March 1967 (wet season), by collections of mosquitoes, trapping of rodents, shooting of other mammals and exposure of sentinel mice and chickens in November 1967-January 1968 (late dry season and early wet season), by further collections of mammals in December 1968 and by trapping of rodents and other vertebrates in April 1969.
Ross River virus was isolated from Culex annulirostris collected in February and March 1967 and January 1968, and from Wallabia agilis shot in January 1968; Kokobera virus was isolated from Ae. vigilax trapped in early 1967. Inhibitors (tentatively viewed as antibody) of Ross River and Kokobera viruses were common in wallabies. Inhibitors of other group B viruses, reacting to highest titre with members of the Murray Valley encephalitis virus subgroup, were found in fruit bats (Pteropus), pigs, dogs and cattle.
The low isolation rate from mosquitoes in the wet season of early 1967, when rainfall was heavy, is at variance with previous observations which suggested that arbovirus activity was correlated with rainfall. The study adds to previous evidence that wallabies and kangaroos may be important vertebrate hosts for Ross River virus. It has not shown how Murray Valley encephalitis and related viruses survive the dry season but has indicated several hosts (fruit bats, dogs and cattle) as worthy of further study.
