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Item The efficacy of electrical stunning of New Zealand rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and freshwater crayfish (Paranephrops zealandicus) using the Crustastun™(Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, 2023-09-22) Kells NJ; Perrott M; Johnson CLarge numbers of decapod crustacea are farmed and harvested globally for human consumption. Growing evidence for the capacity of these animals to feel pain, and therefore to suffer, has led to increased concern for their welfare, including at slaughter. In New Zealand, decapod crustacea are protected by animal welfare legislation. There is a requirement that all farmed or commercially caught animals of these species killed for commercial purposes are first rendered insensible. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Crustastun™, a commercially available bench-top electrical stunner, in two commercially important New Zealand crustacean species; the rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) and kōura (freshwater crayfish [Paranephrops zealandicus]). Animals were anaesthetised via intramuscular injection of lidocaine and instrumented to record the electrical activity of the nervous system, prior to being stunned according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stunning efficacy was determined by analysing neural activity and observing behaviour post stunning. All ten P. zealandicus and three J. edwardsii appeared to be killed outright by the stun. Of the remaining J. edwardsii, six exhibited some degree of muscle tone and/or slow unco-ordinated movements of the limbs or mouthparts after stunning, although there was no recovery of spontaneous or evoked movements. One J. edwardsii was unable to be stunned successfully, likely due to its very large size (1.76 kg). None of the successfully stunned animals showed any evidence of return of awareness in the five minutes following stunning. It was concluded that the Crustastun™ is an acceptable method for killing P. zealandicus and for stunning all but the largest J. edwardsii.Item Identification of a novel polyomavirus from a marsupial host(Oxford University Press, 2022-10-06) Dunowska M; Perrott M; Biggs PWe report the identification and analysis of a full sequence of a novel polyomavirus from a brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) termed possum polyomavirus (PPyV). The sequence was obtained from the next-generation sequencing assembly during an investigation into the aetiological agent for a neurological disease of possums termed wobbly possum disease (WPD), but the virus was not aetiologically involved in WPD. The PPyV genome was 5,224 nt long with the organisation typical for polyomaviruses, including early (large and small T antigens) and late (Viral Protein 1 (VP1), VP2, and VP3) coding regions separated by the non-coding control region of 465 nt. PPyV clustered with betapolyomaviruses in the WUKI clade but showed less than 60 per cent identity to any of the members of this clade. We propose that PPyV is classified within a new species in the genus Betapolyomavirus. These data add to our limited knowledge of marsupial viruses and their evolution.Item The aetiology of wobbly possum disease: Reproduction of the disease with purified nidovirus.(2016-04) Giles J; Perrott M; Roe W; Dunowska MThe objective of this study was to investigate a role of a recently discovered marsupial nidovirus in the development of a neurological disease, termed wobbly possum disease (WPD), in the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). Four possums received 1 mL of a standard inoculum that had been prepared from tissues of WPD-affected possums, 4 possums received 1.8 mL (1 × 10(6) TCID50) of a cell lysate from inoculated cultures, and 4 possums received 1 mL (× 10(7) TCID50) of a purified WPD isolate. All but one possum that received infectious inocula developed neurological disease and histopathological lesions characteristic for WPD. High levels of viral RNA were detected in livers from all possums that received infectious inocula, but not from control possums. Altogether, our data provide strong experimental evidence for the causative involvement of WPD virus in development of a neurological disease in infected animals.Item Prevalence of human papillomaviruses in the mouths of New Zealand women.(25/09/2015) Lucas-Roxburgh R; Benschop J; Dunowska M; Perrott MAIM: Human papillomavirus (HPV) in the oral cavity has been retrospectively associated with an increased risk of developing HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral HPV infection in a local population of New Zealand women aged 18 to 25 years, including determination of HPV genotypes, and to assess potential risk factors for oral HPV infection using participant questionnaire responses. METHODS: Oral brushings and questionnaire responses were collected from 234 women recruited from sexual health and student health centres. Questions covered age, ethnicity, sexual partners, alcohol consumption and smoking. PGMY primers were used for HPV detection by PCR, and results confirmed by sequencing and the cobas® 4800 HPV system. RESULTS: The prevalence of HPV infection was 3.2% of 216 women (95% CI: 1.6%-6.5%). Samples from two women (0.9%, 95% CI: 0.3%-3.3%) contained oncogenic HPV, and another five (2.3%, 95% CI: 1.0%-5.3%) were positive for HPV 13. No significant associations were found between putative risk factors and the presence of oral HPV infection. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HPV in the oral cavity of New Zealand woman was comparable to results of other studies, but showed an unusual distribution of HPV types. The comparatively high detection rate of HPV 13 suggests that further work into clinical significance of oral HPV 13 infection is warranted.
