Highly pathogenic influenza H5N1 virus continues to pose a threat to public health. Although the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of the H5N1 virus have not been fully defined, it has been suggested that cytokine dysregulation plays an important role. As the human respiratory epithelium is the primary target cell for influenza viruses, elucidating the viral tropism and innate immune respo...

BACKGROUND The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus in human remains a global health concern. Heterosubtypic antibody response between seasonal influenza vaccine and potential pandemic influenza virus has important implications for public health. Previous studies by Corti et al. and by Gioia et al. demonstrate that heterosubtypic neutralizing antibodies against the high...

The H5N1 influenza virus, which killed humans and poultry in 1997, was a reassortant that possibly arose in one type of domestic poultry present in the live-poultry markets of Hong Kong. Given that all the precursors of H5N1/97 are still circulating in poultry in southern China, the reassortment event that generated H5N1 could be repeated. Because A/goose/Guangdong/1/96-like (H5N1; Go/Gd) virus...

BACKGROUND The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 virus has dramatically spread throughout Southeast Asia since its first detection in 1997. Merit Release Birds, such as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, are believed to increase one's positive karma when kissed and released during Buddhist rituals. Since these birds are often in close contact with both poultry and humans, we investigated their pot...

BACKGROUND A pandemic H5N1 influenza outbreak would be facilitated by an absence of immunity to the avian-derived virus in the human population. Although this condition is likely in regard to hemagglutinin-mediated immunity, the neuraminidase (NA) of H5N1 viruses (avN1) and of endemic human H1N1 viruses (huN1) are classified in the same serotype. We hypothesized that an immune response to huN1 ...

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses have caused dramatic economic losses to the poultry industry of Vietnam and continue to pose a serious threat to public health. As of June 2008, Vietnam had reported nearly one third of worldwide laboratory confirmed human H5N1 infections. To better understand the emergence, spread and evolution of H5N1 in Vietnam we studied over 300 H5N1 av...

The global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry, wild birds and humans, poses a significant pandemic threat and a serious public health risk. An efficient surveillance and disease control system relies on the understanding of the dispersion patterns and spreading mechanisms of the virus. A space-time cluster analysis of H5N1 outbreaks was used to identify spatio-temporal ...

H5N1 influenza viruses, which cause disease in humans, have unusually high pathogenicity. The temporal response of primary human monocyte-derived macrophages infected with highly pathogenic H5N1 and seasonal H1N1 influenza viruses was evaluated using mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomic profiling. This was done in order to demonstrate significant perturbation of the host proteome upon...

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...

1. H5N1 viruses that cause severe disease in humans are potent inducers of proinflammatory cytokines in contrast to seasonal influenza viruses, and this may play a role in the mechanism of H5N1 pathogenesis. 2. H5N1 viruses are predominantly spherical in morphology. Virus morphology does not influence the ability to induce proinflammatory cytokines. 3. The NS1 viral protein may play a role in t...