Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009

Increased activity of the mosquito-borne Murray valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) was observed in Australia in 2008 and 2009, leading to fatal human and equine cases, and renewed concerns regarding its potential to spread and cause disease. Complete prM-Env genes were sequenced from over 50 MVEV stra...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Williams, David, Diviney, Sinead, Niazi, A., Herring, B., Johansen, C., MacKenzie, John
Other Authors: M. Cooley
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Australian Society for Microbiology 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3162
_version_ 1848744155922038784
author Williams, David
Diviney, Sinead
Niazi, A.
Herring, B.
Johansen, C.
MacKenzie, John
author2 M. Cooley
author_facet M. Cooley
Williams, David
Diviney, Sinead
Niazi, A.
Herring, B.
Johansen, C.
MacKenzie, John
author_sort Williams, David
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Increased activity of the mosquito-borne Murray valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) was observed in Australia in 2008 and 2009, leading to fatal human and equine cases, and renewed concerns regarding its potential to spread and cause disease. Complete prM-Env genes were sequenced from over 50 MVEV strains from different regions of Australia and PNG, and from different times, in order to establish genetic relationships between recent circulating strains with earlier isolates. Phylogenetic analyses showed that genotype 1 (G1) was the dominant circulating genotype sampled over a 60 year period. Two distinct sub-lineages of G1 were observed: G1A included the prototype strain, recent PNG isolates as well as 2008 and 2009 Western Australian strains; G1B comprised early Western Australian viruses (isolated from 1972), including 2009 (but not 2008) strains, and all 2008 isolates from eastern Australia. The finding that 2008 strains from eastern Australia and Western Australia belonged to different sub-lineages suggests these originated from distinct foci of activity in this year, and raises questions regarding the transmission and spread of MVEV within Australia. An additional finding of importance was the identification of G2 strains for the first time since 1995. Unlike earlier strains isolated in the northeast Kimberley region, recent G2 viruses were found in the western and southern parts of Kimberley, indicating this genotype has a broader geographic distribution than first thought. The demonstration of co-circulation of three distinct genetic lineages (G1A, G1B and G2) of MVEV in northwestern Australia provides further evidence that it has an enzootic focus there.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T05:56:59Z
format Conference Paper
id curtin-20.500.11937-3162
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T05:56:59Z
publishDate 2011
publisher Australian Society for Microbiology
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-31622023-01-18T08:46:46Z Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009 Williams, David Diviney, Sinead Niazi, A. Herring, B. Johansen, C. MacKenzie, John M. Cooley S. Tristram Increased activity of the mosquito-borne Murray valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) was observed in Australia in 2008 and 2009, leading to fatal human and equine cases, and renewed concerns regarding its potential to spread and cause disease. Complete prM-Env genes were sequenced from over 50 MVEV strains from different regions of Australia and PNG, and from different times, in order to establish genetic relationships between recent circulating strains with earlier isolates. Phylogenetic analyses showed that genotype 1 (G1) was the dominant circulating genotype sampled over a 60 year period. Two distinct sub-lineages of G1 were observed: G1A included the prototype strain, recent PNG isolates as well as 2008 and 2009 Western Australian strains; G1B comprised early Western Australian viruses (isolated from 1972), including 2009 (but not 2008) strains, and all 2008 isolates from eastern Australia. The finding that 2008 strains from eastern Australia and Western Australia belonged to different sub-lineages suggests these originated from distinct foci of activity in this year, and raises questions regarding the transmission and spread of MVEV within Australia. An additional finding of importance was the identification of G2 strains for the first time since 1995. Unlike earlier strains isolated in the northeast Kimberley region, recent G2 viruses were found in the western and southern parts of Kimberley, indicating this genotype has a broader geographic distribution than first thought. The demonstration of co-circulation of three distinct genetic lineages (G1A, G1B and G2) of MVEV in northwestern Australia provides further evidence that it has an enzootic focus there. 2011 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3162 Australian Society for Microbiology restricted
spellingShingle Williams, David
Diviney, Sinead
Niazi, A.
Herring, B.
Johansen, C.
MacKenzie, John
Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title_full Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title_fullStr Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title_full_unstemmed Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title_short Widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of Murray Valley encephalitis virus in Australia, 2008-2009
title_sort widespread transmission of distinct genetic lineages of murray valley encephalitis virus in australia, 2008-2009
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3162