Molecular markers for malaria genetic epidemiology: progress and pitfalls.

Over recent years, progress in molecular markers for genotyping malaria parasites has enabled informative studies of epidemiology and transmission dynamics. Results have highlighted the value of these tools for surveillance to support malaria control and elimination strategies. There are many different types and panels of markers available for malaria parasite genotyping, and for end users, the nuances of these markers with respect to 'use case', resolution, and accuracy, are not well defined.

Metagenomic characterisation of additional and novel avian viruses from Australian wild ducks.

Birds, notably wild ducks, are reservoirs of pathogenic and zoonotic viruses such as influenza viruses and coronaviruses. In the current study, we used metagenomics to detect and characterise avian DNA and RNA viruses from wild Pacific black ducks, Chestnut teals and Grey teals collected at different time points from a single location. We characterised a likely new species of duck aviadenovirus and a novel duck gyrovirus.

Metagenomic characterisation of avian parvoviruses and picornaviruses from Australian wild ducks.

Ducks can shed and disseminate viruses and thus play a role in cross-species transmission. In the current study, we detected and characterised various avian parvoviruses and picornaviruses from wild Pacific black ducks, Chestnut teals, Grey teals and Wood ducks sampled at multiple time points from a single location using metagenomics. We characterised 46 different avian parvoviruses belonging to three different genera Dependoparvovirus, Aveparvovirus and Chaphamaparvovirus, and 11 different avian picornaviruses tentatively belonging to four different genera Sicinivirus, Anativirus, Megrivirus and Aalivirus.

Detection of a Reassortant H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus with Intercontinental Gene Segments in a Resident Australian Chestnut Teal.

The present study reports the genetic characterization of a low-pathogenicity H9N2 avian influenza virus, initially from a pool and subsequently from individual faecal samples collected from Chestnut teals () in southeastern Australia. Phylogenetic analyses of six full gene segments and two partial gene segments obtained from next-generation sequencing showed that this avian influenza virus, A/Chestnut teal/Australia/CT08.18/12952/2018 (H9N2), was a typical, low-pathogenicity, Eurasian aquatic bird lineage H9N2 virus, albeit containing the North American lineage nucleoprotein (NP) gene segment detected previously in Australian wild birds.

Detection and characterisation of canine astrovirus, canine parvovirus and canine papillomavirus in puppies using next generation sequencing.

Gastroenteritis in young animals is a clinical presentation with many infectious and non- infectious aetiologies. We used next generation sequencing (NGS) to investigate the possible infectious causes of gastroenteritis in puppies from a dog kennel in Victoria, Australia. The near complete genome of a canine astrovirus was obtained from pooled faecal samples, and was found to be 94.

Metagenomics detection and characterisation of viruses in faecal samples from Australian wild birds.

We present an optimised metagenomics method for detection and characterisation of all virus types including single and double stranded DNA/RNA and enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Initial evaluation included both spiked and non-spiked bird faecal samples as well as non-spiked human faecal samples. From the non-spiked bird samples (Australian Muscovy duck and Pacific black ducks) we detected 21 viruses, and we also present a summary of a few viruses detected in human faecal samples.

Detection and characterisation of coronaviruses in migratory and non-migratory Australian wild birds.

We evaluated the presence of coronaviruses by PCR in 918 Australian wild bird samples collected during 2016-17. Coronaviruses were detected in 141 samples (15.3%) from species of ducks, shorebirds and herons and from multiple sampling locations.