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Infectious Disease Online Pathology of Murray Valley Encephalitis |
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Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) is an important mosquito-borne flavivirus infection endemic to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) was isolated during an epidemic of encephalitis in the Murray River valley in Victoria and South Australia in 1951. Perhaps the same virus has been isolated earlier during epidemics of encephalitis in 1917-1918, when it went under the name of Australian ‘X’ disease. The principal vertebrate reservoirs of Murray Valley encephalitis virus are water birds. Culex annulirostris is the primary mosquito vector. There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission. Murray Valley Encephalitis virus can commonly cause : Subclinical infection ; Relatively mild disease with features such as fever, headache, nausea and vomiting ; In some infected patients , mild disease may further progress to involve the central nervous system, causing meningitis ; Finally there may be encephalitis of variable severity. Signs of brain dysfunction include drowsiness, confusion, weakness, or ataxia. These features indicate the onset of encephalitis: -Infection is confirmed by a significant rise in antibody titre to the virus in two blood specimens taken seven to ten days apart. -A diagnosis of the disease should be considered in any patient who presents with encephalitis or central nervous system symptoms and who has been in the endemic area within the incubation period of the disease, (usually between November and July).
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