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 (AI) is a highly contagious disease in poultry and outbreaks can have dramatic economic and health implications. For effective disease surveillance, rapid and sensitive assays are needed to detect antibodies against AI virus (AIV) proteins. In order to support eradication efforts of avian influenza (AI) infections in poultry, the implementation of “DIVA” vaccination strategies, ...

Avian influenza A viruses exhibit a strong preference for using alpha2,3-linked sialic acid as a receptor. Until recently, the presumed lack of this receptor in human airways was believed to constitute an efficient barrier to avian influenza A virus infection of humans. Recent zoonotic outbreaks of avian influenza A virus have triggered researchers to analyse tissue distribution of sialic acid ...

Ducks and in-contact backyard chickens on 20 smallholder backyard farms in 4 districts of Shiraz, Southwest of Iran, were monitored for antibodies against H9N2 avian influenza virus using hemagglutinationinhibition (HI) test. A total of 200 unvaccinated ducks and backyard chickens were sampled. The mean H I titers and seroprevalence in ducks and backyard chickens were 8.3, 5.7 and 78.4, 62.9%, ...

1. Gao R, Cao B, Hu Y, Feng Z, Wang D, Hu W, et al. Human infection with a novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus. N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1888–97. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1304459 2. Lam WY, Yeung AC, Ngai KL, Li MS, To KF, Tsui SK, et al. Effect of avian influenza A H5N1 infection on the expression of microRNA-141 in human respiratory epithelial cells. BMC Microbiol. 2013;13:104. ...

BACKGROUND Plastic bronchitis is a rare but life-threatening disorder and is usually associated with congenital heart disease or pulmonary disease. CASE CHARACTERISTICS A 5-year-old boy with minimal change nephrotic syndrome who developed a relapse along with cough, fever and dyspnea. OBSERVATION Chest X-ray showed atelectasis of right upper lobe of lung, and nasal swab was positive for inf...

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...

The recent human infections caused by H5N1, H9N2, and H7N7 avian influenza viruses highlighted the continuous threat of new pathogenic influenza viruses emerging from a natural reservoir in birds. It is generally believed that replication of avian influenza viruses in humans is restricted by a poor fit of these viruses to cellular receptors and extracellular inhibitors in the human respiratory ...

Avian influenza A viruses generally do not replicate efficiently in human cells, but substitution of glutamic acid (Glu, E) for lysine (Lys, K) at residue 627 of avian influenza virus polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) can serve to overcome host restriction and facilitate human infectivity. Although PB2 residue 627 is regarded as a species-specific signature of influenza A viruses, host restricti...

background: infectious bronchitis virus (ibv) is the causative agent of avian infectious bronchitis, which is characterized by respiratory, reproductive, and renal signs. ibv is a highly variable virus with a large number of genotypes. s1 gene sequencing has been used for molecular epidemiological studies and genotypic characterization of ibv. objective: to better understand the molecular epide...