Hu, WWilliams, GailTong, SMengersen, KerrieClements, Archie2015-12-130002-9637http://hdl.handle.net/1885/74444This study aims to examine the impact of socio-ecologic factors on the transmission of Ross River virus (RRV) infection and to identify areas prone to social and ecologic-driven epidemics in Queensland, Australia. We used a Bayesian spatiotemporal conditional autoregressive model to quantify the relationship between monthly variation of RRV incidence and socio-ecologic factors and to determine spatiotemporal patterns. Our results show that the average increase in monthly RRV incidence was 2.4% (95% credible interval (CrI): 0.1-4.5%) and 2.0% (95% CrI: 1.6-2.3%) for a 1°C increase in monthly average maximum temperature and a 10 mm increase in monthly average rainfall, respectively. A significant spatiotemporal variation and interactive effect between temperature and rainfall on RRV incidence were found. No association between Socio-economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) and RRV was observed. The transmission of RRV in Queensland, Australia appeared to be primarily driven by ecologic variables rather than social factors.Keywords: rain; article; Australia; Bayes theorem; human; humidity; morbidity; oscillation; Ross River alpha virus; sea level; seasonal variation; socioeconomics; temperature sensitivity; virus infection; virus transmission; weather; Australia; Bayes theorem; disea201010.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-05512016-02-24