Mosquitoes and disease in Australia, what does the future hold?

Abstract

Australia has a history of mosquito-borne disease, with historic accounts of endemic malaria, filariasis and dengue during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Bancroftian filariasis, once relatively prevalent in Queensland, has been eliminated and malaria was declared eradicated from Australia in 1981. However, the endemic flaviruses Murray Valley encephalitis and Kunjin and the alphaviruses Ross River and Barmah Forest, which cause encephalitic and polyarthritic syndromes, respectively, continue to be active. Dengue, although no longer considered endemic, is an ongoing issue for Queensland and exotics such as Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya, West Nile and Rift Valley Fever viruses provide some cause for concern with respect to their possible introduction. Further, climate change has been proposed as likely to bring increased distribution and abundance of vectors and diseases, although regional, rural and residential development may be as much or more important. The various pathogens and the diseases they cause have to be viewed in their particular ecological contexts for a proper understanding of what the future might hold and how we will need to deal with the potential public health issues.