Seasonal drivers of the epidemiology of arthropod-borne viruses in Australia.

ABSTRACT: Arthropod-borne viruses are a major cause of emerging disease with significant public health and economic impacts. However, the factors that determine their activity and seasonality are not well understood. In Australia, a network of sentinel cattle herds is used to monitor the distribution of several such viruses and to define virus-free regions. Herein, we utilize these serological data to describe the seasonality, and its drivers, of three economically important animal arboviruses: bluetongue virus, Akabane virus and bovine ephemeral fever virus. Through epidemiological time-series analyses of sero-surveillance data of 180 sentinel herds between 2004-2012, we compared seasonal parameters across latitudes, ranging from the tropical north (-10°S) to the more temperate south (-40°S). This

SUBMITTER: Geoghegan JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4239014 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature