scholarly journals Distinct Lineages of Feline Parvovirus Associated with Epizootic Outbreaks in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates

Viruses ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Van Brussel ◽  
Maura Carrai ◽  
Carrie Lin ◽  
Mark Kelman ◽  
Laura Setyo ◽  
...  

Feline panleukopenia (FPL), a frequently fatal disease of cats, is caused by feline parvovirus (FPV) or canine parvovirus (CPV). We investigated simultaneous outbreaks of FPL between 2014 and 2018 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where FPL outbreaks had not been reported for several decades. Case data from 989 cats and clinical samples from additional 113 cats were obtained to determine the cause of the outbreaks and epidemiological factors involved. Most cats with FPL were shelter-housed, 9 to 10 weeks old at diagnosis, unvaccinated, had not completed a primary vaccination series or had received vaccinations noncompliant with current guidelines. Analysis of parvoviral VP2 sequence data confirmed that all FPL cases were caused by FPV and not CPV. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that each of these outbreaks was caused by a distinct FPV, with two virus lineages present in eastern Australia and virus movement between different geographical locations. Viruses from the UAE outbreak formed a lineage of unknown origin. FPV vaccine virus was detected in the New Zealand cases, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing the co-incidental shedding of vaccine virus in vaccinated cats. Inadequate vaccination coverage in shelter-housed cats was a common factor in all outbreaks, likely precipitating the multiple re-emergence of infection events.

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Colgan ◽  
Gregory Edgecombe ◽  
Deirdre Sharkey

AbstractThe lithobiomorph centipede Henicops is widely distributed in Australia and New Zealand, with five described species, as well as two species in New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island. Parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of ca. 800 aligned bases of sequence data from 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA were conducted on a dataset including multiple individuals of Henicops species from populations sampled from different parts of species' geographic ranges, together with the allied henicopines Lamyctes and Easonobius. Morphological characters are included in parsimony analyses. Molecular and combined datasets unite species from eastern Australia and New Zealand to the exclusion of species from Western Australia, New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island. The molecular data favour these two geographic groupings as clades, whereas inclusion of morphology resolves New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, southwest Western Australia and Queensland as successive sisters to southeastern Australia and New Zealand. The basal position of the Lord Howe Island species in the phylogeny favours a diversification of Australasian Henicops since the late Miocene unless the Lord Howe species originated in a biota that pre-dates the island. The molecular and combined data resolve the widespread morphospecies H. maculatus as paraphyletic, with its populations contributing to the geographic groupings New South Wales + New Zealand and Tasmania + Victoria.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 592
Author(s):  
Stephanie N. Seifert ◽  
Jonathan E. Schulz ◽  
Stacy Ricklefs ◽  
Michael Letko ◽  
Elangeni Yabba ◽  
...  

Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a persistent zoonotic pathogen with frequent spillover from dromedary camels to humans in the Arabian Peninsula, resulting in limited outbreaks of MERS with a high case-fatality rate. Full genome sequence data from camel-derived MERS-CoV variants show diverse lineages circulating in domestic camels with frequent recombination. More than 90% of the available full MERS-CoV genome sequences derived from camels are from just two countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this study, we employ a novel method to amplify and sequence the partial MERS-CoV genome with high sensitivity from nasal swabs of infected camels. We recovered more than 99% of the MERS-CoV genome from field-collected samples with greater than 500 TCID50 equivalent per nasal swab from camel herds sampled in Jordan in May 2016. Our subsequent analyses of 14 camel-derived MERS-CoV genomes show a striking lack of genetic diversity circulating in Jordan camels relative to MERS-CoV genome sequences derived from large camel markets in KSA and UAE. The low genetic diversity detected in Jordan camels during our study is consistent with a lack of endemic circulation in these camel herds and reflective of data from MERS outbreaks in humans dominated by nosocomial transmission following a single introduction as reported during the 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea. Our data suggest transmission of MERS-CoV among two camel herds in Jordan in 2016 following a single introduction event.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4821 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-510
Author(s):  
JINGHUAI ZHANG ◽  
PAT HUTCHINGS ◽  
INGO BURGHARDT ◽  
ELENA KUPRIYANOVA

In May–June 2017 an expedition on board RV ‘Investigator’ sampled benthic communities along the lower slope and abyss of eastern Australia from off Tasmania to the Coral Sea. Over 200 sabellariid specimens of the genera Phalacrostemma and Gesaia were collected during the voyage and deposited in the Australian Museum. Here we describe two new species Gesaia csiro n. sp. (4414–4436 m) and Phalacrostemma timoharai n. sp. (1013–1093 m). We did not formally describe another species of Phalacrostemma due to poor condition of the single specimen. Gesaia csiro n. sp. is the first record of the genus from Australian waters (only a planktonic larva attributed to the genus has previously been recorded), and it can be distinguished from other congeners by the smooth surface of inner paleae, distal thecae of outer paleae with long, irregular and expanded distal fringe and circled distal margin. Phalacrostemma timoharai n. sp. differs from congeners by the following combination of characters: presence of the buccal flap, absence of tentacular filament, 18–22 pairs of outer paleae, two pairs of neuropodial cirri on first thoracic segment, and only one pair of lateral lobes on second thoracic segment. Morphological descriptions are accompanied by mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and ribosomal (16S, 18S and 28S) sequence data. A key to all Australian species of sabellariids is given.


2021 ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Graeme Miller

This paper reports on a 2016-2019 study of 123 students in the most academic Year 9 class in a large, high-achieving New Zealand state boys’ secondary school. The study asked the question: “What aspects of society, schools and teachers, home environment and your own intrapersonal qualities helped or hindered your achievement in at least one academic subject?” Data were gathered through the completion of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, either in focus groups, or individually. Arguably, the most important findings related to participant perceptions of the greatest influence supporting achievement and the single most common factor identified as hindering achievement. The greatest help was identified to be students’ own intrapersonal characteristics, and the greatest hindrance was identified to be schools and teachers. This paper reports on the main findings of the research with particular emphasis on those with relevance to educators. It also considers what the major implications are for educational practice in New Zealand schools.


Author(s):  
J. Walker

Abstract A description is provided for Melampsora medusae. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Pycnia and aecia on Coniferae, especially Larix and Pseudotsuga, less commonly on Pinus and other genera (Ziller, 1965). Uredinia and telia on species of Populus, especially Populus deltoides, and its varieties and hybrids P. balsamifera, P. nigra var. italica and others. Its exact host range on species of Populus is not known due to confusion with other species of Melampsora and to uncertainty in the reported identity of some species of Populus and clones (Walker, Hartigan & Bertus, 1974). DISEASE: Leaf rust of poplars, causing severe leaf damage and early defoliation on susceptible species and clones. Continued defoliation of successive flushes of growth predisposes trees to winter injury and dieback (Peace, 1962) and can cause death of trees, especially nursery stock and trees 1-2 yr old (25, 204; 47, 241; Walker Haitigan & Bertus, 1974). Reduction in incremental growth of timber occurs with susceptible varieties. Some damage can occur to the conifer hosts. It is often severe on Pseudotsuga menziesii (45, 459; 47, 126) and in nurseries Pinus spp. and Larix spp. can be heavily attacked (Ziller, 1965). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: North America (Canada, USA), Asia (Japan); Australasia and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand); Europe (France, Spain). Reports of Melampsora spp. on poplars (including P. deltoides and P. canadensis) from South America (Argentina, 21, 173), Uruguay (Lindquist & de Rosengurtt, 1967) may refer in part to M. medusae. TRANSMISSION: By air-borne urediniospores, often over long distances (suspected from eastern Australia to New Zealand). Urediniospores survive the winter in milder climates on semi-evergreen lines and on green sucker growth of deciduous trees. This is probably the main method of overwintering in the Southern Hemisphere and in warmer parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The possibility of bud carryover as occurs with M. epitea on Salix in Iceland (Jorstad, 1951) and the Canadian Arctic (Savile, 1972) should be investigated. Telia survive the winter and basidiospores formed in spring infect susceptible conifers in parts of the Northern Hemisphere (Ziller, 1965) but no conifer infection has so far been found in Australia.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Edgecombe ◽  
Gonzalo Giribet

Species assigned to the anopsobiine centipede genera Anopsobius Silvestri, 1899, and Dichelobius Attems, 1911, are widely distributed on fragments of the Gondwanan supercontinent, including temperate and tropical Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Cape region of South Africa, and southern South America. Phylogenetic relationships between Australasian and other Gondwanan Anopsobiinae are inferred based on parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses (via direct optimisation) of sequence data for five markers: nuclear ribosomal 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA, mitochondrial ribosomal 12S rRNA and 16S RNA, and the mitochondrial protein-coding cytochrome c oxidase subunit I. New molecular data are added for Anopsobius from South Africa and New Zealand, Dichelobius from New Caledonia, and a new species from Queensland, Australia, Dichelobius etnaensis, sp. nov. The new species is based on distinctive morphological and molecular data. The molecular phylogenies indicate that antennal segmentation in the Anopsobiinae is a more reliable taxonomic character than is spiracle distribution. The former character divides the Gondwanan clade into a 17-segmented group (Dichelobius) and a 15-segmented group (Anopsobius). Confinement of the spiracles to segments 3, 10 and 12 has at least two origins in the Gondwanan clade. The area cladogram for Dichelobius (Queensland (Western Australia + New Caledonia)) suggests a relictual distribution pruned by extinction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Aymee S.R. Lewis ◽  
Toni M. Withers ◽  
Helen F. Nahrung ◽  
Rebecca L. McDougal ◽  
Chris A.M. Reid ◽  
...  

Paropsisterna variicollis, the eucalyptus variegated beetle, was first detected in New Zealand in 2016. It threatens a growing eucalyptus forestry sector through larvae and adults causing significant defoliation to important plantation species. This work aimed to clarify the identification and origin of the New Zealand incursion to inform selection of suitable biological control agent(s). Australian and New Zealand specimens from the Paropsisterna obovata-variicollis-cloelia species complex were analysed by PCR and sequencing of two genetic loci, cytochrome c subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (Cyt b). Molecular analysis of both genetic regions showed three major clusters of diversity. Cluster 1, proposed as Paropsisterna variicollis, had maximum 1.3% genetic variation and was collected from New Zealand, Western Australia and from geographically diverse locations in eastern Australia. Taxonomic results identified distinctive phenotypes of other closely related beetle species, assisting in proposing Cluster 2 as Paropsisterna near decolorata and Cluster 3 as Paropsisterna agricola. Molecular results were compared to morphological structures on adult beetles.


Author(s):  
Sharareh Eskandarieh ◽  
Mohammad Ali Sahraian

Context: Recently, the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) have increased drastically in different regions of the world, including Asia. The present study aimed to systematically review the recent MS epidemiology in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in Medline and Embase databases to retrieve the available studies regarding MS epidemiology in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Results: Most of the studies were performed in hospital settings. The female-to-male ratio in the sample populations varied from 1.5:1 in Turkey to 5:1 in Malaysia. The total mean age at the onset of MS varied from the minimum of 28 years in Hong Kong to the maximum of 36 years in the United Arab Emirates. Among 16 pertinent studies in this regard, seven addressed the incidence rate of MS, and 13 addressed the prevalence of the disease. The highest prevalence rate was reported to be respectively 124.2 and 148.06 in Australia and Iran versus 2.73 in Malaysia (06 per 100,000 population), while a higher incidence rate was estimated at 6.88 and 6.7 per 100,000 population in Kuwait and Australia, respectively compared to the lower incidence rate per 100,000 population in China (0.2 in females, 0.12 in males). Conclusions: According to the results, the prevalence of MS has increased in Asia, while the prevalence of MS in this continent is lower compared to the rates reported in Australia, Europe, and North America.


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