Kunjin virus

The virus was first isolated from Culex annulirostris mosquitoes in Australia in 1960.[1][2] The name of Kunjin virus derives from an Aboriginal clan living on the Mitchell River close to where the virus was first isolated in Kowanyama, northern Queensland.[1][3]

Kunjin virus is a zoonotic virus of the family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. It is an arbovirus which is transmitted by mosquitoes and is part of the Japanese encephalitis serological complex.[4] It is antigenically and genetically very similar to West Nile virus and in 1999 was reclassified as a subtype of WNV.[3][5] Its genome is positive-sense single stranded RNA made up of 10,644 nucleotides.[3][4]

Infection with the virus often causes no symptoms, but it can lead to either an encephalitic disease or a non-encephalitic disease.[6] Non-encephalitic Kunjin virus disease can cause symptoms including acute febrile illness, headache, arthralgia, myalgia, fatigue and rash.[1][6] Kunjin virus encephalitis features acute febrile meningoencephalitis.[1]

Both forms of Kunjin virus disease are milder than the diseases caused by West Nile virus and Murray Valley encephalitis virus.[5][6]

Kunjin virus is transmitted by mosquito vectors, especially the Culex annulirostris.[3] They pass the virus to waterbird reservoir hosts; a major example is the nankeen night heron.[3] It is also passed to horses and humans.[7] The virus has been isolated in mosquitoes in South East Asia but in humans, only in Australia.[6] It has been found all over Australia and is particularly prevalent in areas near wetlands and rivers.[8]

The control of Kunjin virus is achieved in the same ways as other mosquito-borne diseases. These include individuals using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved clothes and avoiding areas where mosquitoes are particularly prevalent.[1] Habitat control by government agencies can take the form of reducing the amount of water available for mosquitoes to breed in, and the use of insecticides.[9] There is no available vaccine against Kunjin virus.[1]

In 2005, scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and the University of Queensland found that modified Kunjin virus particles injected into mice were able to deliver a gene into the immune system targeting cancer cells.[10][11] This research may lead to vaccines for cancer and HIV.[10][11]