A Case of Japanese Encephalitis with a Fatal Outcome in an Australian Who Traveled from Bali in 2019

Alyssa T Pyke; Keat Choong; Frederick Moore; Sanmarié Schlebusch; Carmel Taylor; Glen Hewitson; Jamie McMahon; Neelima Nair; Peter Moore; Mitchell Finger; Peter Burtonclay; Sarah Wheatley

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed5030133

A Case of Japanese Encephalitis with a Fatal Outcome in an Australian Who Traveled from Bali in 2019

Trop Med Infect Dis. 2020 Aug 19;5(3):133. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5030133.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Public Health Virology Laboratory, Forensic and Scientific Services, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
² Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Birtinya, QLD 4575, Australia.
³ School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.

Abstract

A severe case of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection, resulting in fatality, occurred in an unvaccinated Australian male traveler from Bali, Indonesia, in 2019. During hospitalisation in Australia, patient cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) yielded JEV-specific IgM antibodies and RNA, and an isolate of the virus. Ongoing transmission of JEV in Bali underscores this pathogen as a public health risk and the importance of appropriate health, vaccination and mosquito avoidance advice to prospective travelers to the region.

Keywords: Australia; Bali; CSF; Japanese encephalitis; Japanese encephalitis virus; flavivirus; whole genome sequencing.

Publication types

Case Reports