Identification of risk factors associated with exposure to Australian bat lyssavirus [ 2000 - 2002 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Prof John Mackenzie (Principal investigator)

Brief description Australia is one of the few countries in the world known to be free of rabies. A dramatic impact on this status occurred in 1996. A flying fox in northern NSW was found to be infected with a rabies-like virus. Within 16 weeks of this discovery the first human case occurred. A further human case has now been reported. The newly discovered virus, named Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) was found to be closely related to, but distinguishable from, rabies virus. Rabies virus is responsible for thousands of human infections each year, mainly in Asia and South Asia where it is endemic in urban dogs. In contrast, other rabies-like viruses have caused only a handful of human infections. Although the number of human cases of ABL is likely to remain low, each of the two known cases has aroused a great deal of public anxiety. The natural hosts appear to be various species of bats which collectively have a distribution along the entire northern and eastern coastlines. The number of potential exposures is therefore quite large and state health departments are devoting considerable resources to dealing with public concerns. This project will establish clearly defined risk factors for exposure to ABL and will allow health authorities to better manage expensive and limited vaccine and therapy resources.

Funding Amount $AUD 230,344.68

Funding Scheme NHMRC Project Grants

Notes Standard Project Grant