The environmental and ecological determinants of elevated Ross River Virus exposure in koalas residing in urban coastal landscapes.

ABSTRACT: Koala populations in many areas of Australia have declined sharply in response to habitat loss, disease and the effects of climate change. Koalas may face further morbidity from endemic mosquito-borne viruses, but the impact of such viruses is currently unknown. Few seroprevalence studies in the wild exist and little is known of the determinants of exposure. Here, we exploited a large, spatially and temporally explicit koala survey to define the intensity of Ross River Virus (RRV) exposure in koalas residing in urban coastal environments in southeast Queensland, Australia. We demonstrate that RRV exposure in koalas is much higher (> 80%) than reported in other sero-surveys and that exposure is uniform across the urban coastal landscape. Uniformity in exposure is related to the presence of

SUBMITTER: Johnson BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7904799 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature