ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4095-950X
Current Organisations
University of Queensland
,
Macquarie University
,
Children's Medical Research Institute
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Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-02-2021
DOI: 10.3390/V13020265
Abstract: Mosquito-borne viruses are well recognized as a global public health burden amongst humans, but the effects on non-human vertebrates is rarely reported. Australia, houses a number of endemic mosquito-borne viruses, such as Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, and Murray Valley encephalitis virus. In this review, we synthesize the current state of mosquito-borne viruses impacting non-human vertebrates in Australia, including diseases that could be introduced due to local mosquito distribution. Given the unique island biogeography of Australia and the endemism of vertebrate species (including macropods and monotremes), Australia is highly susceptible to foreign mosquito species becoming established, and mosquito-borne viruses becoming endemic alongside novel reservoirs. For each virus, we summarize the known geographic distribution, mosquito vectors, vertebrate hosts, clinical signs and treatments, and highlight the importance of including non-human vertebrates in the assessment of future disease outbreaks. The mosquito-borne viruses discussed can impact wildlife, livestock, and companion animals, causing significant changes to Australian ecology and economy. The complex nature of mosquito-borne disease, and challenges in assessing the impacts to non-human vertebrate species, makes this an important topic to periodically review.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 26-01-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PNTD.0009036
Abstract: In the absence of vaccines or drugs, insecticides are the mainstay of Aedes -borne disease control. Their utility is challenged by the slow deployment of resources, poor community compliance and inadequate household coverage. Novel application methods are required. A 10% w/w metofluthrin “emanator” that passively disseminates insecticide from an impregnated net was evaluated in a randomized trial of 200 houses in Mexico. The devices were introduced at a rate of 1 per room and replaced at 3-week intervals. During each of 7 consecutive deployment cycles, indoor resting mosquitoes were s led using aspirator collections. Assessments of mosquito landing behaviours were made in a subset of houses. Pre-treatment, there were no differences in Aedes aegypti indices between houses recruited to the control and treatment arms. Immediately after metofluthrin deployment, the entomological indices between the trial arms erged. Averaged across the trial, there were significant reductions in Abundance Rate Ratios for total Ae . aegypti , female abundance and females that contained blood meals (2.5, 2.4 and 2.3-times fewer mosquitoes respectively P .001). Average efficacy was 60.2% for total adults, 58.3% for females, and 57.2% for blood-fed females. The emanators also reduced mosquito landings by 90% from 12.5 to 1.2 per 10-minute s ling period (P .05). Homozygous forms of the pyrethroid resistant kdr alleles V410L, V1016L and F1534C were common in the target mosquito population found in 39%, 24% and 95% of mosquitoes collected during the trial. This is the first randomized control trial to evaluate the entomological impact of any volatile pyrethroid on urban Ae . aegypti . It demonstrates that volatile pyrethroids can have a sustained impact on Ae . aegypti population densities and human-vector contact indoors. These effects occur despite the presence of pyrethroid-resistant alleles in the target population. Formulations like these may have considerable utility for public health vector control responses.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-03-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Abstract: An ability to characterize the age of mosquito populations could provide cost-effective and compelling entomological evidence for the potential epidemiological impacts of vector control. The average age of a mosquito population is the most important determinant of vectorial capacity and the likelihood of disease transmission. Yet, despite decades of research, defining the age of a wild-caught mosquito remains a challenging, impractical, and unreliable process. Emerging chemometric and existing transcriptional approaches may overcome many of the limitations of current morphological techniques, but their utility in terms of field-based monitoring programmes remains largely untested. Herein, we review the potential advantages and disadvantages of new and existing age-grading tools in an operational context.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1016/J.MOLIMM.2019.10.024
Abstract: Marsupials and eutherians are mammals that differ in their physiological traits, predominately their reproductive and developmental strategies eutherians give birth to well-developed young, while marsupials are born highly altricial after a much shorter gestation. These developmental traits also result in differences in the development of the immune system of eutherian and marsupial species. In eutherians, B-cells are the key to humoral immunity as they are found in multiple lymphoid organs and have the unique ability to mediate the production of antigen-specific antibodies in the presence of extracellular pathogens. The development of B-cells in marsupials has been reported and hypothesised to be similar to that of eutherians, except that haematopoiesis occurs in the liver, postpartum, until the bone marrow fully matures. In eutherians, specific genes are linked to specific stages in B-cell development, maturation, and differentiation processes, and have been identified including immunoglobulins (heavy and light chains), cluster of differentiation markers (CD10, 19, 34 and CD79α/β), signal transduction molecules (BTK, Lyn and Syk) and transcriptional regulators (EBF1, E2A, and Pax5). This review aims to discuss the known similarities and differences between marsupial and eutherian B-cells, in regards to their genetic presence, homology, and developmental stages, as well as to highlight the areas requiring further investigation. By enhancing our understanding of the genes that are involved with B-cells in the marsupial lineage, it will, in turn, aid our understanding of the marsupial immune system and support the development of specific immunological reagents for research and wildlife conservation purposes.
No related grants have been discovered for Oselyne Ong.