From 2014 to 2015, three cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza infection occurred in zoo-housed north-east China tigers (Panthera tigris ssp.altaica) and four tigers died of respiratory distress in succession in Yunnan Province, China. We isolated and characterized three highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses from these tigers. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that A/tiger /Yunna...

Pandemic influenza requires interspecies transmission of an influenza virus with a novel hemagglutinin (HA) subtytpe that can adapt to its new host through either reassortment or point mutations and transmit by aerosolized respiratory droplets. Two previous pandemics of 1957 and 1968 resulted from the reassortment of low pathogenic avian viruses and human subtypes of that period; however, condi...

We report the serological evidence of low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H9N2 infection in an occupational poultry-exposed population and a general population. A serological survey of an occupational poultry-exposed population and a general population was conducted using a haemagglutinin-inhibiting (HI) assay in Shanghai, China, from January 2008 to December 2010. Evidence of higher anti-H9 ...

Title of Document: MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SURVEILLANCE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA IN WILD AND DOMESTIC BIRDS Annabelle Morano Pascua, M.S., 2006 Directed By: Associate Professor, Nathaniel L. Tablante, Department of Veterinary Medicine VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine The University of Maryland, College Park Surveillance of the existence of avian influenza virus in birds is essential i...

INTRODUCTION Wild migratory birds are global distributors of pathogens. Sardinia, Italy, is the second largest Island in the Mediterranean and is a land bridge between Europe and Africa. METHODOLOGY We designed a surveillance protocol to investigate wild migratory birds for presence, frequency, and type of avian influenza viruses. We collected over 4,000 avian samples and compared three sampl...

Transmission of influenza viruses into the human population requires surmounting barriers to cross-species infection. Changes in the influenza polymerase overcome one such barrier. Viruses isolated from birds generally contain polymerases with the avian-signature glutamic acid at amino acid 627 in the PB2 subunit. These polymerases display restricted activity in human cells. An adaptive change ...

This study reports on the first quantification of avian influenza virus in the organs of mute swans that died during the epizootic of avian influenza (H5N1) between January and April 2006 in the Czech Republic. The quantitative real-time Reverse Transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) assay based on a TaqMan probe was developed for a rapid detection and quantification of avian influenza virus RNA in clinic...

We report serologic evidence of avian influenza infection in 1 duck hunter and 2 wildlife professionals with extensive histories of wild waterfowl and game bird exposure. Two laboratory methods showed evidence of past infection with influenza A/H11N9, a less common virus strain in wild ducks, in these 3 persons.

I of poultry with influenza A (subtype H5N1) virus is responsible for outbreaks in birds and a human case-fatality rate of 58% (1). The most likely means of transmission is from infected birds to humans and from the environment to humans, but evidence for human-to-human transmission is limited (2). This virus can be transmitted if a person has direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces an...