New flaviviruses in the kokobera virus group

Abstract

Kokobera virus (KOKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that has been isolated from mosquitoes throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) (Mackenzie et al. 1994). It was originally isolated from Culex annulirostris Skuse mosquitoes collected at Kowanyama (Mitchell River Mission) in north Queensland in 1960 and was named after a local Aboriginal tribe (Doherty et aJ. 1963). Since that time, KOKV has been isolated from mosquitoes collected in Western Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland (Russell 1998). Serological evidence suggests that macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) and horses may be reservoir hosts of KOKV (Doherty et al. 1964, Doherty et al. 1971). Human infections with KOKV occasionally result in an acute polyarticular disease (Doherty et al. 1964, Hawkes et al. 1985, Hawkes et al. 1993, Boughton et al. 1986).