Climate variations and the transmission of Ross River Virus infection in coastal and inland region of Queensland: an analysis from Townsville and Toowoomba

To determine the different impact of climate variability on the transmission of Ross River (RR) virus infection between coastal and inland regions of Queensland, historic data analysis was conducted in Townsville and Toowoomba over the period 1985-96. The results show that temperatures, rainfall and high tides are possible contributors to the transmission of RR virus infection in the coastal region of Queensland, with a lagged effect of zero to four months, while temperatures were the main potential risk factor for the transmission of RR virus infections in inland regions of Queensland. These different climatic risk factors in coastal and inland regions seem to have their influence through the different distributions of the vectors of the diseases in the two regions. This study suggests that the transmission of RR virus infection is related to climate variations and attention should be paid to this, given global warming and its consequent impacts.