High-level coordination and strategy in the 2007 equine influenza outbreak response.

The equine influenza (EI) outbreak presented many challenges that required high-level coordination and decision making, as well as the development of new approaches for satisfactory and consistent resolution. This paper outlines the elements of the national coordination arrangements, preparatory arrangements in place prior to the outbreak that facilitated national coordination, and some of the issues faced and resolved in the response.

Multidrug-resistant extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli of sequence type ST131 in animals and foods.

Multidrug-resistant Escherichia colt sequence type 131 (51131) has recently emerged as a globally distributed cause of extraintestinal infections in humans. Diverse factors have been investigated as explanations for ST131's rapid and successful dissemination, including transmission through animal contact and consumption of food, as suggested by the detection of ST131 in a number of nonhuman species. For example, ST131 has recently been identified as a cause of clinical infection in companion animals and poultry, and both host groups have been confirmed as faecal carriers of ST131. Moreover, a high degree of similarity has been shown among certain ST131 isolates from humans, companion animals, and poultry based on resistance characteristics and genomic background and human and companion animal ST131 isolates tend to exhibit similar virulence genotypes. However, most ST131 isolates from poultry appear to possess specific virulence genes that are typically absent from human and companion animal isolates, including genes associated with avian pathogenic E. coli. Since the number of reported animal and food-associated ST131 isolates is quite small, the role of nonhuman host species in the emergence, dissemination, and transmission of ST131 to humans remains unclear. Nevertheless, given the profound public health importance of the emergent ST131 clonal group, even the limited available evidence indicates a pressing need for further careful study of this significant question.

Foraging Behaviour and Landscape Utilisation by the Endangered Golden-Crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus), The Philippines

Species of Old World fruit-bats (family Pteropodidae) have been identified as the natural hosts of a number of novel and highly pathogenic viruses threatening livestock and human health. We used GPS data loggers to record the nocturnal foraging movements of Acerodon jubatus, the Golden-crowned flying fox in the Philippines to better understand the landscape utilisation of this iconic species, with the dual objectives of pre-empting disease emergence and supporting conservation management. Data loggers were deployed on eight of 54 A. jubatus (two males and six females) captured near Subic Bay on the Philippine island of Luzon between 22 November and 2 December 2010. Bodyweight ranged from 730 g to 1002 g, translating to a weight burden of 3–4% of bodyweight. Six of the eight loggers yielded useful data over 2–10 days, showing variability in the nature and range of individual bat movements. The majority of foraging locations were in closed forest and most were remote from evident human activity. Forty-six discrete foraging locations and five previously unrecorded roost locations were identified. Our findings indicate that foraging is not a random event, with the majority of bats exhibiting repetitious foraging movements night-to-night, that apparently intact forest provides the primary foraging resource, and that known roost locations substantially underestimate the true number (and location) of roosts. Our initial findings support policy and decision-making across perspectives including landscape management, species conservation, and potentially disease emergence.

Flying-foxes in the Australian urban environment - community attitudes and opinions

The urban presence of flying-foxes (pteropid bats) in eastern Australia has increased in the last 20 years, putatively reflecting broader landscape change. The influx of large numbers often precipitates community angst, typically stemming from concerns about loss of social amenity, economic loss or negative health impacts from recently emerged bat-mediated zoonotic diseases such as Hendra virus and Australian bat lyssavirus. Local authorities and state wildlife authorities are increasingly asked to approve the dispersal or modification of flying-fox roosts to address expressed concerns, yet the scale of this concern within the community, and the veracity of the basis for concern are often unclear. We conducted an on-line survey to capture community attitudes and opinions on flying-foxes in the urban environment to inform management policy and decision-making. Analysis focused on awareness, concerns, and management options, and primarily compared responses from communities where flying-fox management was and was not topical at the time of the survey. While a majority of respondents indicated a moderate to high level of knowledge of both flying-foxes and Hendra virus, a substantial minority mistakenly believed that flying-foxes pose a direct infection risk to humans, suggesting miscommunication or misinformation, and the need for additional risk communication strategies. Secondly, a minority of community members indicated they were directly impacted by urban roosts, most plausibly those living in close proximity to the roost, suggesting that targeted management options are warranted. Thirdly, neither dispersal nor culling was seen as an appropriate management strategy by the majority of respondents, including those from postcodes where flying-fox management was topical. These findings usefully inform community debate and policy development and demonstrate the value of social analysis in defining the issues and options in this complex human - wildlife interaction. The mobile nature of flying-foxes underlines the need for a management strategy at a regional or larger scale, and independent of state borders.