Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) is a zoonotic flavivirus endemic to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Water birds from the order Ciconiiformes, including herons and cormorants, provide the natural reservoir for MVEV.

[3] The New South Wales government has placed 'sentinel flocks' of chickens near known bird breeding sites as an early warning system.

In fact, serological surveys which measure the level of anti-MVEV antibodies within the population estimate that only one in 800–1000 of all infections result in clinical disease.

[6] The scientific study of the genetics of MVEV has been facilitated by the construction and manipulation of an infectious cDNA clone of the virus.