Ecological suitability of Japanese encephalitis virus in Australia: A modelling analysis of vector-host transmission dynamics to potential spillover in humans.

ABSTRACT: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a multi-vector, multi-host pathogen maintained in circulation between Culex mosquitoes and waterbirds, with occasional spillover to humans. In Australia, sporadic local transmission of JEV was historically confined to northern Australia until 2021 after which outbreaks occurred for the first time in temperate southern regions in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Following this outbreak, there have been concerns that JEV has potentially become endemic in Australia, posing an ongoing public health risk exacerbated by shifting climatic and environmental factors. We developed and applied a spatially explicit spillover modelling framework which focuses on estimating i) an ecological suitability index for JEV in Australia and, ii) the spillover potential to human

SUBMITTER: Skinner EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12654935 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature