OFFICIALOFFICIAL JOURNALJOURNAL OFOF THETHE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY INC.INC. VolumeVolume 3939 NumberNumber 44 NovemberNovember 20182018 Tick-borne pathogens and diseases REGISTER NOW Pacific Northwest The University of Murdoch University The University of National Laboratories (USA) Melbourne Queensland The University of The University of UNSW Sydney University of Western Australia Melbourne Canterbury (NZ) The Australian Society for Microbiology Inc. OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY INC. 9/397 Smith Street Fitzroy, Vic. 3065 Tel: 1300 656 423 Volume 39 Number 4 November 2018 Fax: 03 9329 1777 Email: [email protected] www.theasm.org.au Contents ABN 24 065 463 274 Vertical Transmission 180 For Microbiology Australia correspondence, see address below. Dena Lyras 180 Editorial team Guest Editorial 181 Prof. Ian Macreadie, Mrs Hayley Macreadie Tick-borne pathogens and diseases 181 and Mrs Rebekah Clark Stephen R Graves Editorial. Board In Focus 182 Dr Ipek Kurtböke (Chair) Dr Sam Manna Prof. Ross Barnard Dr John Merlino Laboratory diagnosis of human infections transmitted by ticks, Prof. Mary Barton Prof. Wieland Meyer fleas, mites and lice in Australia 182 Prof. Linda Blackall Mr Chris Owens John Stenos and Stephen R Graves Dr Chris Burke Prof. William Rawlinson Dr Narelle Fegan Dr Paul Selleck Could Australian ticks harbour emerging viral pathogens? 185 Dr Rebecca LeBard Dr Erin Shanahan Caitlin A O’Brien, Roy A Hall and Ala Lew-Tabor Dr Gary Lum Dr David Smith Tick-borne encephalitis and its global importance 191 Prof. Dena Lyras Ms Helen Smith Gerhard Dobler Ticks in Australia: endemics; exotics; which ticks bite humans? 194 Subscription rates Current subscription rates are available Stephen C Barker and Dayana Barker from the ASM Melbourne offi ce. Under the Microscope 200 Editorial correspondence Bacterial tick-associated infections in Australia: current studies Prof. Ian Macreadie and future directions 200 Tel: 0402 564 308 (Ian) Peter Irwin, Siobhon Egan, Telleasha Greay and Charlotte Oskam Email: [email protected] Tick-transmitted human infections in Asia 203 Published four times a year Matthew T Robinson, Khamsing Vongphayloth, Jeffrey C Hertz, in print and open access online by Paul Brey and Paul N Newton A concise overview on tick-borne human infections in Europe: a focus on Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne Rickettsia spp. 207 Rita Abou Abdallah, Didier Raoult and Pierre-Edouard Fournier Unipark, Building 1, Level 1 Non-infectious illness after tick bite 212 195 Wellington Road, Clayton, Vic. 3168 Miles H Beaman http://microbiology.publish.csiro.au Bovine theileriosis in Australia: a decade of disease 215 Publishing enquiries Cheryl Jenkins Jenny Foster Variables affecting laboratory diagnosis of acute rickettsial infection 220 Email: [email protected] Cecilia Kato Production enquiries Coxiella Helen Pavlatos Rethinking infections in Australia 223 Email: [email protected] Charlotte Oskam, Jadyn Owens, Annachiara Codello, Alexander Gofton and Telleasha Greay Advertising enquiries Tel: 03 9545 8400 ASM Affairs 226 Email: [email protected] © 2018 The Australian Society for Microbiology Inc. EduCon 2018 226 The ASM, through CSIRO Publishing, reserve all rights Karena Waller to the content, artwork and photographs in Microbiology Australia. Permission to reproduce text, photos and Book reviews 227 artwork must be sought from CSIRO Publishing. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent Vale A/Professor Horst Werner Doelle (1/9/1932–6/9/2018) 228 amendments permit downloading and use of an article by an individual or educational institution for non- Vale Dr David Leslie 229 commercial personal use or study. Multiple reproduction of any Microbiology Australia article in a study block is governed by rights agreement managed by Copyright Agency Limited and fees may apply. Authors published in Microbiology Australia have the moral right under Australian law to be acknowledged as the creator. ISSN 1324-4272 eISSN 2201-9189 While reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content, the Australian Society for Microbiology, CSIRO, and CSIRO Publishing accept no responsibility for any loss or damage from the direct or indirect use of or reliance on the content. The opinions expressed in articles, letters, and advertisements in Microbiology Australia are not necessarily those of the Australian Society for Microbiology, the Editorial Board, Cover image: Female Amblyomma triguttatum (kangaroo tick) preparing to feed from a human. Photo CSIRO, and CSIRO Publishing. credit: Peter Irwin. MICROBIOLOGY AUSTRALIA • NOVEMBER 2018 179 Vertical Transmission I am always impressed by the generosity of our members and how much time and effort they expend in promoting Microbiology. On 4 July I visited Science Alive! at the Adelaide showgrounds. The Microbiology stand, which was sponsored by ASM, was fantastic and drew tremendous public interest – children had great fun with some very imaginative activities. I include a few photos below of the Microbiology stand. I am delighted to have attended, it was a terrific Dena Lyras event and I would like to personally thank all of our members who President of ASM give their time to organise and participate in events such as this one. I will begin this Vertical Transmission by highlighting the links Finally, I draw your attention to the AusMe (Australian Microbial between the ASM National Executive and our State branches, and Ecology) conference being held 11–13 February 2019 in Western the steps we are taking to strengthen interactions between these Australia. AusMe is an ASM initiative, and the first meeting in 2017 important ASM groups. I recently spent a few days visiting with our was a wonderful success. The meeting next year is sure to be even South Australian/Northern Territory branch representatives. We better than the first one, so please do attend if you have an interest discussed matters that are important to local members, and new in any aspect of microbial ecology. initiatives that the national executive is implementing. I am visiting our Queensland branch in November and our Western Australian Please visit our website: www.theasm.org.au to access information branch in December for similar discussions, and we continue to regarding upcoming meetings and awards. Do look at all of our new hold National-State tele-meetings four times a year. At this impor- awards, and encourage your colleagues to apply for them, or tant time of change in our discipline ASM wants to provide mem- nominate others; most are due in late March. We have increased bers with the strongest possible support, and we welcome new the number and range of our awards, and are committed to ideas about how ASM can serve you better. inclusion and promoting diversity; our awards embrace these ideals. While in Adelaide I also met with members of the local organising committee for our national meeting in Adelaide in 2019. The You may also like to follow, and contribute to ASM on Twitter, conference venue is magnificent and excellent for our meeting, @AUSSOCMIC, or on Facebook to make sure you keep up with the and the scientific program is equally excellent. The meeting will be latest news, trends and developments in Microbiology in Australia held from 30 June to 3 July 2019 – please add the dates to your diary. and around the world. 180 10.1071/MA18057 MICROBIOLOGY AUSTRALIA * NOVEMBER 2018 Guest Editorial Tick-borne pathogens and diseases An understanding of the ticks present in Australia, both the endemic and exotic species, is crucial basic knowledge in tackling the problems of tick-transmitted illness (Barker and Barker). There is also a plethora of non-infectious illness associated with tick bites (Beaman), which, in Australia, may well exceed the cases of infectious disease. This has been of recent concern by the parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Stephen R Graves Diagnosing tick-transmitted infections requires both the treating doctor to think of the possibility of tick-bite in their patient and a microbiology diagnostic laboratory with the expertise to confirm or refute the tentative diagnosis. Newer lab techniques for Welcome to this edition of Microbiology Australia in which we diagnosing rickettsial infections in the USA (Kato) and Australian examine the second most dangerous ectoparasite for humans, the tick-transmitted microbes (Stenos and Graves) are reported. tick (the most dangerous being without doubt the mosquito!), for As you browse through this edition of Microbiology Australia, the pathogens it carries and the diseases it can cause. I trust that you will come to appreciate that it is not only mosquitos Ticks of many different species, in all parts of the world, transmit that are the invertebrate curse of Mankind, but that the non-flying, many different infections to humans and various vertebrate animal biting tick is also a biological force with which to be reckoned! species, including those that are of great importance to Man (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and cats). Some tick-transmitted diseases, Biography such as Lyme Disease, have been only recently recognised (late Stephen R Graves is a medical microbiologist. He obtained his 1970s), while others, such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the BSc (honours in Microbiology) from the University of WA, when Americas, have been known for over 100 years. Some have a very Neville Stanley was the Professor of Microbiology. He then com- Australian focus, such as Q Fever and Flinders Island Spotted Fever, pleted his PhD in the field of leptospirosis with Solly Faine at first recognised in Australia but now known to be virtually world- Monash University and later his medical degree at The University wide in their distribution. of Melbourne. After post-doctoral research on Treponema pallidum at the University of Minnesota with Russ Johnson, he Of the 11 articles included in this edition of Microbiology Australia, became a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at Monash seven are about the Australian tick situation and four about over- University.