Publications by authors named "Brendan J Trewin"

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) transmission in temperate Australia has underscored a critical need to characterise transmission pathways and identify probable hosts of the virus. This systematic review consolidates existing research on the vertebrate hosts of JEV that are known to exist in Australia. Specifically, we aim to identify probable species involved in JEV transmission, their potential role as hosts and identify critical knowledge gaps.

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Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) transmission in temperate Australia has underscored a critical need to characterise transmission pathways and identify probable hosts of infection within the country. This systematic review consolidates existing research on the vertebrate hosts of JEV that are known to exist in Australia. Specifically, we aim to identify probable species for JEV transmission, their potential role as either a spillover or maintenance host and identify critical knowledge gaps.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Initial control efforts included larval habitat management and adult mosquito control, which successfully identified a weak population structure that could be targeted for elimination.
  • * A second control program launched in 2016 involved community engagement and advanced surveillance techniques, ultimately reducing the mosquito population significantly below detection levels, highlighting the effectiveness of collaborative public health strategies in managing invasive mosquito species.
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Releasing sterile or incompatible male insects is a proven method of population management in agricultural systems with the potential to revolutionize mosquito control. Through a collaborative venture with the "Debug" Verily Life Sciences team, we assessed the incompatible insect technique (IIT) with the mosquito vector in northern Australia in a replicated treatment control field trial. Backcrossing a US strain of carrying AlbB from with a local strain, we generated a AlbB2-F4 strain incompatible with both the wild-type (no ) and Mel- now extant in North Queensland.

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Unlabelled: (Linnaeus) was once highly prevalent across eastern Australia, resulting in epidemics of dengue fever. Drought conditions have led to a rapid rise in semi-permanent, urban water storage containers called rainwater tanks known to be critical larval habitat for the species. The presence of these larval habitats has increased the risk of establishment of highly urbanised, invasive mosquito vectors such as .

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Rapid advances in biological and digital support systems are revolutionizing the population control of invasive disease vectors such as Aedes aegypti. Methods such as the sterile and incompatible insect techniques (SIT/IIT) rely on modified males to seek out and successfully mate with females, and in doing so outcompete the wild male population for mates. Currently, these interventions most frequently infer mating success through area-wide population surveillance and estimates of mating competitiveness are rare.

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Article Synopsis
  • Urban landscape features significantly influence the movement and distribution of mosquito vectors, particularly Aedes species in urban settings.
  • Current mosquito management strategies, including insecticides and rear-and-release methods, often overlook these spatial dynamics, which could impact their effectiveness.
  • The study demonstrates that rainwater tanks attract male Aedes aegypti while roads act as barriers for their movement, whereas female Aedes notoscriptus show no such limitations, highlighting the need for tailored urban mosquito control strategies.
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A key determinant of insect persistence in marginal habitats is the ability to tolerate environmental extremes such as temperature. Aedes aegypti is highly invasive and little is known about the physiological sensitivity of the species to fluctuating temperature regimes at the lower critical threshold for development. A temperature that may limit the establishment and persistence of the species in sub-optimal regions.

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Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) is a highly invasive mosquito whose global distribution has fluctuated dramatically over the last 100 years. In Australia the distribution of Ae.

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The survival characteristics of the mosquito Aedes aegypti affect transmission rates of dengue because transmission requires infected mosquitoes to survive long enough for the virus to infect the salivary glands. Mosquito survival is assumed to be high in tropical, dengue endemic, countries like Vietnam. However, the survival rates of wild populations of mosquitoes are seldom measured due the difficulty of predicting mosquito age.

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Background: Extended drought conditions in south-east Queensland during the early 2000s have resulted in a culture of water harvesting and legislated water restrictions. Aedes notoscriptus is a container-breeding mosquito vector of Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses.

Methods: From 2008-2009, the larval habitats and seasonal abundance of domestic container-breeding mosquitoes were recorded from three suburbs of Brisbane.

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