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Ross River virus infection in a traveller returning from northern Australia

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Abstract

Ross River virus is an arthropod-borne alphavirus (family Togaviridae) causing epidemic polyarthritis in the Australia-Pacific region. The infection causes substantial morbidity due to long-lasting arthralgia. Despite being the most common arboviral infection in Australia, reports in travellers are scarce. Here, we describe the disease in a German traveller who was not aware of the prevalence of this infection in his holiday destination, the Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia. The patient had neither fever nor rash, but presented with chills, watery diarrhoea and severe, prolonged arthritis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str.2, 97080, Würzburg, Germany

    Dennis Tappe

  2. Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Mission Hospital, Salvatorstr. 7, 97067, Würzburg, Germany

    Dennis Tappe, Angelika Ries, Uwe Ziegler, Andreas Müller & August Stich

  3. Department of Virology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Str. 74, 20359, Hamburg, Germany

    Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit

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  1. Dennis Tappe
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  2. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit
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  3. Angelika Ries
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  4. Uwe Ziegler
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  5. Andreas Müller
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  6. August Stich
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Correspondence to Dennis Tappe.

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Tappe, D., Schmidt-Chanasit, J., Ries, A. et al. Ross River virus infection in a traveller returning from northern Australia. Med Microbiol Immunol 198, 271–273 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-009-0122-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-009-0122-9

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