Ross River and Sindbis viruses were isolated from Aedes camptorhynchus adults reared from immatures collected from a salt marsh in coastal Victoria, indicating the existence of field vertical transmission. These first isolations of an arbovirus from adult mosquitoes reared from field-collected immatures in Australia indicates one mechanism for arbovirus maintenance in temperate regions.

RRV can be isolated from infected horses during the short time period when there is an overlap of clinical signs, positive IgM serology and viraemia. Early spring infections of horses may occur if RRV infected mosquito vectors are present. RRV has not been shown to cause clinical disease in horses. This is the first report of isolation of RRV from Oc. camptorhyncus in the Murray region and indicates a potential for infection of humans and animals in autumn as well as in spring.

Despite much anecdotal and serological evidence for infection of horses with RRV actual infection and associated clinical disease are infrequently confirmed. The availability of a specific and analytically sensitive RT-PCR for the detection of RRV provides additional opportunities to confirm the presence of this virus in clinical samples. The RT-PCR primers for the diagnosis of KV and MVEV infections were shown to be specific for cell culture grown viruses but the further validation of these tests requires the availability of appropriate clinical samples from infected horses.

The research described in this paper relates the changes in serum concentration of calcium, phosphorus, and 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25(OH)2D3] to changes in tibial ash percentage and the incidence of endochondral ossification defects (EOD) in flocks of commercially reared broiler chickens at 14 d of age. Sequential studies of six Australian broiler flocks representing three major genetic lines were undertaken at weekly intervals from 1 to 28 d of age. Serum collected from birds was analyzed for total calcium, inorganic phosphorus, and 1,25(OH)2D3. Tibial ash percentage was also determined at weekly intervals, and the incidence of EOD was determined at 14 d of age by examining sagittal sections of the proximal tibiotarsus. The EOD observed in the 14-d-old broiler chickens were characterized by enlarged zones of proliferating chondrocytes, similar to that which occurs during calcium- or vitamin D-dependent rickets. Three flocks had a 50% incidence of EOD at 14 d of age and were classified as severely affected. The other three flocks had incidences ranging from 12 to 16% and were classified as mildly affected. Broiler flocks severely affected with EOD (50% incidence at Day 14) had lower (P < or = .05) concentrations of 1,25(OH)2D3 than flocks mildly affected (12 to 16% incidence). Tibial ash percentages were lower (P < or = .05) in the severely affected flocks between Days 14 to 28, and it is likely that a lower rate of ash accretion between Days 7 to 14 precedes the development of the EOD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The iodine nutrition of grazing ewes was assessed from milk iodine concentrations. In 54 flocks sampled throughout Victoria, the mean milk iodine concentrations in ewes ranged from 79 to 1831 micrograms/l. In 2 flocks where newborn lambs had goitre the concentrations in ewes ranged from 45 to 98 micrograms/l. A marked seasonal variation was apparent when ewes in a flock were sampled at monthly intervals over 2 years. Milk iodine concentrations were highest at the end of summer, and were lowest in spring. In grazing ewes the milk iodine concentrations remained relatively constant throughout the day. In ewes given single oral doses of up to 2 mg iodine, milk iodine concentrations increased to maximum within 5 h, the increment being related to the dose administered, and decreased to pretreatment concentrations within 24 h. Milk iodine concentrations in ewes given 1 ml iodised oil intramuscularly remained significantly higher than untreated ewes in the same flock for 16 months after treatment. The effectiveness of the single injection was still apparent after 2 consecutive pregnancies in the ewes.