Australian National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory annual report, 2014.

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation, Australia conducts surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in children less than 15 years of age as the main method to monitor its polio-free status. Cases of AFP in children are notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance System and faecal specimens are referred for virological investigation to the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory. In 2014, no cases of poliomyelitis were reported from clinical surveillance and Australia reported 1.4 non-polio AFP cases per 100,000 children, meeting the WHO performance criterion for a sensitive surveillance system. Non-polio enteroviruses can also be associated with AFP and enterovirus A71 and echovirus types 6 and 7 were identified from clinical specimens from cases of AFP. Globally, 359 cases of polio were reported in 2014, with the 3 endemic countries, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, accounting for 95% of the cases. In May 2014, the WHO declared the international spread of wild poliovirus to be a public health emergency of international concern and has since maintained recommendations for polio vaccination of travellers from countries reporting cases of wild polio.

Potential for the Australian and New Zealand paediatric intensive care registry to enhance acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in Australia: a data-linkage study.

BACKGROUND: Australia uses acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance to monitor its polio-free status. The World Health Organization criterion for a sensitive AFP surveillance system is the annual detection of at least one non-polio AFP case per 100,000 children aged less than 15 years, a target Australia has not consistently achieved. Children exhibiting AFP are likely to be hospitalised and may be admitted to an intensive care unit. This provides a potential opportunity for active AFP surveillance. METHODS: A data-linkage study for the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 compared 165 non-polio AFP cases classified by the Polio Expert Panel with 880 acute neurological presentations potentially compatible with AFP documented in the Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Intensive Care (ANZPIC) Registry. RESULTS: Forty-two (25%) AFP cases classified by the Polio Expert Panel were matched to case records in the ANZPIC Registry. Of these, nineteen (45%) cases were classified as Guillain-Barré syndrome on both registries. Ten additional Guillain-Barré syndrome cases recorded in the ANZPIC Registry were not notified to the national AFP surveillance system. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of a further ten AFP cases supports inclusion of intensive care units in national AFP surveillance, particularly specialist paediatric intensive care units, to identify AFP cases that may not otherwise be reported to the national surveillance system.

Annual report of the Australian National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory 2010-2011.

Australia conducts clinical surveillance for cases of polio-like illness in children in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended surveillance criteria for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). AFP cases are ascertained either by clinicians notifying the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or designated nurses enrolling cases as part of the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance system at four sentinel tertiary paediatric hospitals. The National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory (NERL), formerly the National Poliovirus Reference Laboratory, is accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the testing of faecal specimens from cases of AFP and operates as a Poliovirus Regional Reference Laboratory for the Western Pacific Region. In 2010 and 2011, for the 3rd and 4th consecutive years, Australia met the WHO AFP surveillance performance indicator. This is indicative of a sensitive surveillance system capable of detecting an imported case of polio in children. However, the faecal collection rate for the virological investigation of AFP cases was below the WHO surveillance performance indicator in both years and represented a gap in Australia's polio surveillance. Enterovirus and environmental surveillance were established in Australia as virological surveillance to complement the clinical surveillance schemes. No poliovirus was detected by the clinical or virological surveillance schemes in 2010 or 2011 and Australia maintained its polio-free status. India was declared polio-free in January 2012, a significant step towards global polio eradication, leaving Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan as the remaining countries endemic for wild poliovirus.

Annual report of the Australian National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory 2012.

In 2012 no cases of poliomyelitis were reported through clinical surveillance in Australia, and poliovirus was not detected through virological surveillance. Australia conducts surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in children less than 15 years as the main mechanism to monitor its polio-free status in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Cases of AFP in children are notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance System. In 2012 Australia reported 1.2 non-polio AFP cases per 100,000 children, meeting the WHO performance criterion for a sensitive system for the fifth year in a row. However the faecal specimen collection rate from AFP cases was 29%, which was well below the WHO target of 80%. Virological surveillance for poliovirus consists of two components. Firstly, the Enterovirus Reference Laboratory Network of Australia (ERLNA) reports on the typing of enteroviruses detected in or isolated from clinical specimens. Secondly, environmental surveillance is conducted at sentinel sites. These surveillance systems are co-ordinated by the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory (NERL).

Transcriptomic Remodelling of Fetal Endothelial Cells During Establishment of Inflammatory Memory.

Inflammatory memory involves the molecular and cellular 'reprogramming' of innate immune cells following exogenous stimuli, leading to non-specific protection against subsequent pathogen exposure. This phenomenon has now also been described in non-hematopoietic cells, such as human fetal and adult endothelial cells. In this study we mapped the cell-specific DNA methylation profile and the transcriptomic remodelling during the establishment of inflammatory memory in two distinct fetal endothelial cell types - a progenitor cell (ECFC) and a differentiated cell (HUVEC) population. We show that both cell types have a core transcriptional response to an initial exposure to a viral-like ligand, Poly(I:C), characterised by interferon responsive genes. There was also an ECFC specific response, marked by the transcription factor ELF1, suggesting a non-canonical viral response pathway in progenitor endothelial cells. Next, we show that both ECFCs and HUVECs establish memory in response to an initial viral exposure, resulting in an altered subsequent response to lipopolysaccharide. While the capacity to train or tolerize the induction of specific sets of genes was similar between the two cell types, the progenitor ECFCs show a higher capacity to establish memory. Among tolerized cellular pathways are those involved in endothelial barrier establishment and leukocyte migration, both important for regulating systemic immune-endothelial cell interactions. These findings suggest that the capacity for inflammatory memory may be a common trait across different endothelial cell types but also indicate that the specific downstream targets may vary by developmental stage.

Australian National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory annual report, 2015.

Australia conducts surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in children less than 15 years as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the main method to monitor its polio-free status. Cases of AFP in children are notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance System and faecal specimens are referred for virological investigation to the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory. In 2015, no cases of poliomyelitis were reported from clinical surveillance and Australia reported 1.2 non-polio AFP cases per 100,000 children, meeting the WHO performance criterion for a sensitive surveillance system. Two non-polio enteroviruses, enterovirus A71 and coxsackievirus B3, were identified from clinical specimens collected from AFP cases. Australia complements the clinical surveillance program with enterovirus and environmental surveillance for poliovirus. Two Sabin-like polioviruses were isolated from sewage collected in Melbourne in 2015, which would have been imported from a country that uses the oral polio vaccine. The global eradication of wild poliovirus type 2 was certified in 2015 and Sabin poliovirus type 2 will be withdrawn from oral polio vaccine in April 2016. Laboratory containment of all remaining wild and vaccine strains of poliovirus type 2 will occur in 2016 and the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory was designated as a polio essential facility. Globally, in 2015, 74 cases of polio were reported, only in the two remaining countries endemic for wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the lowest number reported since the global polio eradication program was initiated.

The public health importance of culex quinque fasciatus in the Caribbean area (abstract only)

Culex quinque fasciatus Say (culex fatigans Wiedemann) is the most widely distributed and prevalent mosquito in the world today. In Trinidad it appears to prefer humans and chickens and feeds on both these hosts with indiscriminate frequency. Chicken houses and human habitation are the favourite daytime shelters of this pest. Now that malaria and yellow fever are being eradicated in the West Indies and Bancroftian filariasis diminishing, the possibility of this mosquito acting as a vector for the virus of St. Louis encephalitis and Cache Valley Fever must be considered seriously. As culex fatigans appears to develop tolerance to most ot the commonly used insecticides rather rapidly it is suggested that a crash programme employing Baytex or possibly other agents be used for mosquito control in order to eradicate culex fatigans as well as aedes aegypti (AU)

The canopy frequenting mosquitoes of Bush Bush Forest, Trinidad, West Indies

The Bush Bush Forest study area is briefly described. Studies of the canopy mosquito fauna depended upon the simultaneous collection of mosquitoes at ground level and in the canopy at a height of 55 feet. Mosquitoes were collected through the use of human bait or light-weight traps baited with white mice or young chickens. Observation periods were 24 hours in duration in order to equally sample the nocturnal as well as diurnal mosquito population. Canopy trapping yielded many fewer mosquitoes than were attracted to human bait, particularly during daylight hours. Ten species were considered essentially arboreal in nature, four or five appeared intermediate in choice of habit and 20 species were considered terraphyllic. The little studied Aedeomyia squamipennis was frequently observed feeding on birds in the forest canopy (Summary)

The public health importance of Culex quinquefasciatus Say in the West Indies

The biology and vectorial capabilities of Culex quinquefasciatus are briefly reviewed. Difficulties of control are stressed and a plea made for a search for a more effective insecticide and the inclusion of control of quinquefasciatus in existing malaria or Aedes egypti eradication schemes. (AU)

Virus transmission studies with Trinidadian mosquitoes

Virus isolations from Trinidad mosquitoes now total 71 strains, of which 22 represent yellow fever, 7 are Ilheus, 3 are St. Louis, and 39 are still to be identified. Attempts have been made to propagate some of these agents in forest mosquitoes as well as to effect their transmission. The studies have demonstrated that local mosquitoes may harbour these agents under laboratory conditions for considerable periods of time. Transmissions were successfully effected in the case of Mayaro and St. Louis viruses. (AU)

Virus transmission studies with Trinidadian mosquitoes

Virus isolations from Trinidad mosquitoes now total 71 strains, of which 22 represent yellow fever, 7 are Ilheus, 3 are St. Louis, and 39 are still to be identified. Attempts have been made to propagate some of these agents in forest mosquitoes as well as to effect their transmission. The studies have demonstrated that local mosquitoes may harbour these agents under laboratory conditions for considerable periods of time. Transmissions were successfully effected in the case of Mayaro and St. Louis viruses. (Summary)

Virus transmission studies with Trinidadian mosquitoes. Part II. Further observations

Evidence is presented that, with techniques of parenteral inoculocation of virus followed by later feeding on susceptible chicks or mice, six species of Trinidadian mosquitoes transmitted Ilheus virus, six species transmitted St. Louis virus and one species transmitted Mayaro virus. (Summary)

Eastern equine encephalitis virus infection of birds in the Caribbean

EEE virus was not recovered from any birds in the Caribbean and the immune rate was very low. Thus there is as yet no positive evidence that migrating birds participate in the spread of the virus (AU)

Arbovirus studies in Bush Bush Forest, Trinidad, W.I., September 1959-December 1964. III. Entomologic studies

Bush Bush Forest entomologic investigations were concered mainly with mosquitoes, the most conspicuous element of the bloodsucking arthropod fauna. More than 92 species were demonstrated, but only about two dozen were common. Mosquitoes were studied in relation to thier physical environment, seasonal activity, diel activity, horizontal stratifaction in the forest, food preferences, and larval habitats. Large numbers were collected for virus studies. Other groups investigated were phlebotomine flies (10 species), Culicoides flies (10 species), horseflies (18 species), Cuterebridae (one species), sucking lice (four species), fleas (one species), ticks (nine species), and various mites including 15 species of trombiculid. (AU)

Aedes aegypti strain fitness for yellow fever virus transmission

Three geographical strains of Aedes aegypti from Thailand (Amphur), East Africa (Kampala), and the West Indies (Santo Domingo) were compared for susceptibility to infection with low-passage yellow fever virus (French viscerotropic) as well as for ability to transmit virus by bite at varying extrinsic incubation periods. Santo Domingo strain appeared the most competent and Kampala the least when mosquitoes were exposed to a low level virus-infecting blood meal; at higher virus levels, a similar trend was noted but differences were less evident and in no case were the differences statistically significant. All three strains were infected with and transmitted yellow fever virus (AU)

Eastern equine encephalitis virus in the West Indies and British Guiana

Investigations on Eastern equine encephalitis virus in the West Indies and British Guiana are reported. In Trinidad the virus was isolated from Culex mosquitoes in 1959 and 1960. In British Guiana the virus was isolated from horses in 1959 during an outbreak of equine encephalitis in the Rupununi Savannah. Immunity to Eastern equine encephalitis virus has been demonstrated in man, birds and domestic chickens from Trinidad. (AU)

Studies on the virus of Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis in Trinidad, W.I

Isolation of numerous strains of VEE virus from mosquitoes, sentinel mice and field rodents in Trinidad in 1959, 1960 and 1961 is reported. These constitute the first discoveries of this in Trinidad since the original isolations in 1943. (Summary)

Eastern equine encephalitis virus in the West Indies and British Guiana

Investigations on Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus in the West Indies and British Guiana are reported. In Trinidad the virus was isolated from Culex mosquitoes in 1959 and 1960. In British Guiana the virus was isolated from horses in 1959 during an outbreak of Equine Encephalitis in Rupununi Savannah. Immunity to Eastern Equine virus has been demonstrated in man, birds and domestic chickens from Trinidad. (Summary)

Activities of the Trinidad regional virus laboratory in 1953 and 1954 with special reference to yellow fever outbreak in Trinidad, B.W.I

Serological surveys of Trinidad residents by the Trinidad Regional Laboratory demonstrated yellow fever immunes in eight individuals 15-19 years of age, and in a high proportion of older individuals. Yellow fever virus was isolated from a human case in April 1954. Subsequently virus isolations have been made from 13 other human cases, 7 red howler (Alouatta) monkeys which were brought in dead, 21 pools of Haemogogus mosquitoes, and 1 pool of mixed mosquitos -a total of 43 virus isolations. Yellow fever virus was repeatedly recovered from Haemogogus mosquitoes captured at ground level. (Summary)

Virus transmission studies with Trinidadian mosquitoes part IV. Kairi virus

This reports infectability of several Trinidadian mosquitoes with Kairi virus. Mosquitoes were inoculated and salivary gland virus was passaged weekly: for 5 weeks in Aedes scapularis, 4 weeks in A. taeniorhynchus, 1 week in Mansonia titillans and 3 weeks in Culex pipens quinquefasciatus. All 4 species transmitted Kairi virus by the bite of single mosquitoes after extrinsic incubation for 14-19 days. An attempt to infect A. Scapularis by feeding on an infected mouse failed. C. pipiens quinquefasciatus does not appear to be a suitable host for Kairi virus. (AU)