Detection and genetic diversity of porcine rotavirus A, B and C in eastern Australian piggeries

Rotaviruses (RV) have a high prevalence in piggeries worldwide and are one of the major pathogens causing severe diarrhoea in young pigs. RV species A, B, and C have been linked to piglet diarrhoea in Australian pig herds, but their genetic diversity has not been studied in detail. Based on sequencing of the structural viral protein 7 (VP7) RVA G genotypes G3, G4 and G5, and RVC types G1, G3, G5, and G6 have been identified in Australian piggeries in previous studies. Although occurrence of RVB was reported in Australia in 1988, no further genetic analysis has been conducted. To improve health management decisions in Australian pig herds, more information on RV prevalence and genetic diversity is needed. Here, 243 enteric samples collected from 20 pig farms within Eastern Australia were analysed for the presence of RV in different age groups using a novel PCR-based multiplex assay (Pork MultiPath™ enteric panel). RVA, RVB, and RVC were detected in 10, 14, and 14 farms, respectively. Further sequencing of VP7 in selected RV-positive samples revealed G genotypes G2, G5, G9 (RVA), G6, G8, G14, G16, G20 (RVB), and G1, G3, G5, G6 (RVC) present. RVA was only detected in young (<10 weeks old) pigs whereas RVB and RVC were also detected in older animals (>11 weeks old). Interestingly, RVB and RVC G-type occurrence differed between age groups. In conclusion, this study provides new insights on the prevalence and diversity of different RV species in pig herds of Eastern Australia whilst demonstrating the ability of the Pork MultiPath™ technology to accurately differentiate between these RV species.

Counterpoints of care: two moments of struggle

This paper examines the history of care in modern society and seeks to expose how deep transformations in care arise from wider social relations. From historical survey we may discern a series of transitional points, where the practice and the experience of care was greatly, sometimes suddenly, redefined. Each betrayed deeper political and ethical struggles that went to the core of social relations, and which weren't merely therapeutic in nature. This paper explores two such 'moments'. I first examine the emergence of a new institutional landscape during the middle industrial era, in the wake of a series of legal and political reforms that sought to settle a social order uprooted and distressed by raw modernisation. I provide a composite, yet incomplete view, of how this transformation proceeded in one urban setting, colonial Melbourne. In the second instance, I review the ambitions and process of deinstitutionalisation in the late 20(th) century. Ostensibly, this reform sought, inter alia, to collapse the great division between 'fit' and 'unfit' established in 1834. Again, empirical reference is made to the reconstitution of care in Melbourne, Australia, this time during its late 20th experience of institutional reform. The focus in this case is the process of downscaling and closure for a major congregate facility, Kew Cottages. The major conclusion is that periods of intense transition in the ideology and mode of care are reflective of wider social transformations not merely of therapeutic or institutional shifts.

The geography of mental health in Dunedin, New Zealand

The process of deinstitutionalization of people with chronic mental disabilities in Western countries has often produced a spatial concentration of ex-psychiatric patients, and of mental health services, in inner city urban neighbourhoods. In this paper, the geography of mental health services and patients in Dunedin is examined, and it is shown that a concentration does exist in one neighbourhood. The history and characteristics of this neighbourhood are described. The key factors in contemporary New Zealand that have generated this spatial pattern are then considered, and Dunedin's centralized mental health geography is contrasted with the North American "zone of dependence" phenomenon. The paper concludes by considering to what extent Dunedin's emergent geography of mental health provides a supportive environment for people with mental illnesses, and exploring the policy implications for health care planners and service providers.