CSIRO Publishing Books Journals About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals > Wildlife Research   
Wildlife Research
  Ecology, Management and Conservation in Natural and Modified Habitats
 
Search
 
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Special Issues
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Notice to Authors
Submit Article
Open Access
For Referees
General Information
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

 Early Alert
Subscribe to our email Early Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

 Connect with us
facebook   youtube

 CSIRO Wildlife Research
All volumes of CSIRO Wildlife Research are online and available to subscribers of Wildlife Research.

 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 34(7)

Prospects for virally vectored immunocontraception in the control of wild house mice (Mus domesticus)

Alec J. Redwood A C D, Lee M. Smith A C, Megan L. Lloyd A C, Lyn A. Hinds B C, Christopher M. Hardy B C, Geoffrey R. Shellam A C

A Discipline of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, M502, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
B CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, 3D1 University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: aredwood@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
 
PDF (420 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  


Abstract

The wild house mouse (Mus domesticus) is not native to Australia and was introduced from Europe with early settlement. It undergoes periodic population explosions or plagues, which place significant economic and social burdens on agricultural communities. Present control mechanisms rely on improvements to farm hygiene and the use of rodenticides. This review covers over a decade of work on the use of virally vectored immunocontraception (VVIC) as an adjunct method of controlling mouse populations. Two viral vectors, ectromelia virus (ECTV) and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) have been tested as potential VVIC vectors: MCMV has been the most widely studied vector because it is endemic to Australia; ECTV less so because its use would have required the introduction of a new pathogen into the Australian environment. Issues such as efficacy, antigen choice, resistance, transmission, species specificity and safety of VVIC are discussed. In broad terms, both vectors when expressing murine zona pellucida 3 (mZP3) induced long-term infertility in most directly inoculated female mice. Whereas innate and acquired resistance to MCMV may be a barrier to VVIC, the most significant barrier appears to be the attenuation seen in MCMV-based vectors. This attenuation is likely to prevent sufficient transmission for broad-scale use. Should this issue be overcome, VVIC has the potential to contribute to the control of house mouse populations in Australia.

   
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

    


 
Top  Email this page
 
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2012