Prevalence of viruses and parasites in populations of house mice on Macquarie Island

House mice remain prevalent on Macquarie Island, and may interfere with the subantarctic community there by the transmission of murine pathogens. The project seeks to identify the incidence and suite of murine viruses and parasites present in this insular mouse population, compare it to those found in other populations of house mice in Australia,and learn about the persistence of virus or parasites in very isolated communities of house mice.

This information can then be used to gauge the risks associated with disease following the introduction of house mice to islands where they do occur. Parasites are stored at Murdoch University (Contact Dr Russ Hobbs). Mouse sera are stored at The University of Western Australia (Contact Dr Mal Lawson).