Survey of rabies vaccination status of Queensland veterinarians and veterinary students

BACKGROUND

To determine the rabies vaccination status of Queensland veterinarians and veterinary students and their perception of zoonotic risk from Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional questionnaire surveys.

METHODS

Questionnaires were sent by post in 2011 to veterinary surgeons registered in Queensland, to final-year veterinary students at James Cook University via SurveyMonkey® in 2013 and to final-year veterinary students at James Cook University and University of Queensland via SurveyMonkey® in 2014.

RESULTS

The response rate for registered veterinarians was 33.5% and for veterinary students 33.3% and 30% in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Of the 466 registered veterinary surgeons, 147 (31.5%) had been vaccinated, with 72 (15.5%) currently vaccinated. For veterinary students the rabies vaccination rate was 20.0% (4/20) and 13.0% (6/46) in the 2013 and 2014 surveys, respectively. More than 95% of veterinary students had received the mandatory Q fever vaccine. Both veterinarians and students regarded bats and horses as high-risk species for zoonoses.

CONCLUSIONS

Queensland veterinarians and veterinary students have low levels of protection against ABLV. Although incidents of ABLV spilling over from a bat to a domestic mammal are likely to remain rare, they pose a significant human health and occupational risk given the outcome of infection in humans is high consequence. Principals of veterinary practices and veterinary authorities in Australia should implement a policy of rabies vaccination for clinical staff and veterinary students.

First detection of Edwardsiella ictaluri (Proteobacteria: Enterobacteriaceae) in wild Australian catfish

The bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri is considered to be one of the most significant pathogens of farmed catfish in the United States of America and has also caused mortalities in farmed and wild fishes in many other parts of the world. E. ictaluri is not believed to be present in wild fish populations in Australia, although it has previously been detected in imported ornamental fishes held in quarantine facilities. In an attempt to confirm freedom from the bacterium in Australian native fishes, we undertook a risk-based survey of wild catfishes from 15 sites across northern Australia. E. ictaluri was detected by selective culturing, followed by DNA testing, in Wet Tropics tandan (Tandanus tropicanus) from the Tully River, at a prevalence of 0.40 (95% CI 0.21-0.61). The bacterium was not found in fishes sampled from any of the other 14 sites. This is the first report of E. ictaluri in wild fishes in Australia.

Heritability of mortality in response to a natural pancreas disease (SPDV) challenge in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., post-smolts on a West of Ireland sea site

Pancreas disease (PD) is an economically important disease of European farmed Atlantic salmon. It can cause significant losses because of morbidity, mortality and reduced production. The disease is caused by an alphavirus, known as salmon PD virus (SPDV) or salmonid alphavirus subtype 1 in Ireland. To examine whether it is possible to improve the natural resistance of Atlantic salmon to SPDV by selective breeding, 6000 genotyped, tagged, pedigreed fish from 150 full-sib families were exposed to a natural challenge during 2005 in a sea cage on a commercial salmon farm in the West of Ireland. Histopathological and serological examination was performed weekly on a proportion of all moribund fish to determine the onset of the infection and the likely cause of death. Heritabilities and genetic correlations are presented for resistance to a natural PD challenge and smolt input weight. The results indicate that the susceptibility of salmon to SPDV could be reduced by selective breeding based on the survival in a natural challenge to the virus.

Virological, serological and histopathological evaluation of fish strain susceptibility to experimental infection with salmonid alphavirus

Pancreas disease (PD) of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L., which is caused by an alphavirus known as salmon pancreas disease virus (SPDV), can have serious economic consequences. An epidemiological survey carried out in Ireland in 2003 indicated that within individual farms there were significant differences in the susceptibility of different strains of farmed Atlantic salmon to infection with SPDV, as measured by levels of clinical disease and mortality. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate this field observation by comparing lesion development, viraemia and serological responses of 3 commercial strains of Atlantic salmon (A, B and C) experimentally infected with SPDV. Highly significant differences in the severity of lesions in the pancreas at Day 21 post-infection (pi) were detected (p < 0.01), with Group B being more severely affected. There were also significant differences in the prevalence and severity of lesions in heart and skeletal muscle at Day 21 and 35 pi respectively, with Group B results again significantly higher than those from both Groups A and C (p < 0.05). There was no overlap between viraemia and the presence of specific SPDV antibody. Some fish in all groups had no viraemia, lesions or evidence of seroconversion. There were no significant differences seen between the challenged groups in relation to the percentage of viraemic fish at each time point. Viral loads were not determined. Differences between the number of antibody-positive fish in each challenge group were found at Days 28 and 35 pi (p < 0.1). Highly significant differences (p < 0.01) in the geometric mean titres of seropositive fish were detected at Day 28. These results, obtained using a challenge model, confirm that there are strain differences in the susceptibility to experimental SPDV infection in commercial farmed Atlantic salmon.