Ross River virus - at the interface between humans, animals and the environment

Abstract

Ross River virus (RRV) is the most common cause of mosquito-borne illness in Western Australians. The virus is maintained in nature principally via transmission between competent mosquito vectors and native (marsupial) vertebrate hosts, although humans are suspected of being amplifiers of RRV in some situations. The influence of prevailing environmental conditions on the ecology of RRV has been extensively documented. Indeed, monitoring of environmental variables, together with vector mosquito populations and infection rates with RRV, now provides effective early warning of elevated levels of RRV activity in several different regions of Australia. Serosurveys provide convincing evidence that western grey kangaroos (WGK; Macropus fuliginosus) are commonly infected with the virus in south-west coastal regions of Western Australia. There is also evidence of seroconversions in WGKs coinciding with outbreaks of human disease. Such outbreaks have been preceded by favourable environmental conditions for breeding of WGKs, presumably leading to an increase in numbers of non-immune individuals in the environment. More recently, GIS analyses of clusters of human cases of RRV has shown a relationship between proximity of residence to mosquito and WGK habitat and risk of RRV disease. These findings indicate that monitoring of seroprevalence to RRV in vertebrate hosts of RRV, such as the WGK, may assist in predicting outbreaks of RRV disease and for determining whether strategies to manage natural host populations in close proximity to human habitation may be worth further consideration.