following experimental inoculation of 3-week-old turkeys with different titres (106, 104, 103, 102 and 101 egg infectious dose (eid50)) of a/ostrich/italy/984/2000 h7n1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (hpaiv), the selected tissues and organs were examined for pathological changes. tissue samples from different organs that obtained from dead and sacrificed birds were fixed in 10% neutral...

A precise, reproducible microassay was developed to measure thermal inactivation of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus in chicken meat. Small pieces of breast or thigh meat (0.05 g) from chickens infected with A/chicken/Pennsylvania/1370/1983 (H5N2) (PA/83) or A/chicken/Korea/ES/2003 (H5N1) (Korea/03) HPAI viruses were tested for inactivation in the heating block of a thermocycler....

The emergence of novel avian influenza viruses in migratory birds is of concern because of the potential for virus dissemination during fall migration. We report the identification of novel highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of subtype H5N8, clade 2.3.4.4, and their reassortment with other avian influenza viruses in waterfowl and shorebirds of Siberia.

BACKGROUND Pandemic influenza virus strains originate in avian species. We examined veterinarians in the United States for evidence of previous avian influenza virus infection. METHODS We performed a controlled, cross-sectional seroprevalence study among 42 veterinarians and 66 healthy control subjects using serum samples collected from 2002 through 2004. Serum samples were tested using a mic...

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 and Newcastle disease viral infections cause severe illness in chickens and vaccination is a strategic tool of controlling these diseases. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of using both recombinant herpesvirus of turkey (rHVT-H5 and rHVT-F) vector vaccines at day-old, in the hatchery, under field conditions. Vaccinated chickens were...

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) prescribes standards for the diagnosis and control of avian influenza, as well as health measures for safe trade in birds and avian products, which are based on up-to-date scientific information and risk management principles, consistent with the role of the OIE as a reference standard-setting body for the World Trade Organization (WTO). These stan...

Avian influenza is a viral disease that primarily infects wild and domestic birds, but it also can be transmitted to a variety of mammals. In 2006, the United States of America Departments of Agriculture and Interior designed a large-scale, interagency surveillance effort that sought to determine if highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses were present in wild bird populations within the Unite...

Since 1997, human infections with highly pathogenic zoonotic avian influenza viruses have shown that the risk of influenza pandemic is significant. In Europe, infections caused by the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H7N7) virus were confirmed in the human population in 2003 in the Netherlands. Moreover, outbreaks of A(H5N1) infections were observed in wild and farm birds in different Europe...

David Swayne has recruited top experts worldwide to contribute to his new book, Avian Influenza. Each of the 25 chapters focuses on a specific area of expertise, and together they offer a variety of perspectives on this disease from the technical to the historical to the strategic. The history of avian influenza starts with a fascinating look at the domestication of poultry and moves to a descr...

BACKGROUND Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and real time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) have been indispensable methods for influenza surveillance, especially for determination of avian influenza. The movement of testing beyond reference lab introduced the need of quality control, including the implementation of an evaluation system for validating personal training and sample proficiency testing. METHOD...