A confirmed case of fatal Murray Valley encephalitis acquired in the Batchelor area, NT

Abstract

A 58 year old male from Batchelor (Miles Rd) was admitted to Royal Darwin Hospital on 10/3/09 with suspected MVE (suspected onset date 8/3/09). A RDH doctor informed Medical Entomology (ME) of the suspected case on 13/3/09 but advised that test results were still pending. The patient remained in ICU for 10 days and passed away on 20/3/09. ME received the Flavivirus Disease Case Investigation Form from CDC on 24/3/09. Later test results indicated a significant rise in antibodies in the HI test and MVE IgM in the CSF, with MVE-RNA detected in multiple postmortem brain samples on 1/4/09. According to the patient’s wife, her husband was bitten by mosquitoes on his rural property but had not been to Litchfield Park or any other rural areas.