First identified in May 2014 in China's Sichuan Province, initial cases of H5N6 avian influenza virus (AIV) infection in humans raised great concerns about the virus's prevalence, origin, and development. To evaluate both AIV contamination in live poultry markets (LPMs) and the risk of AIV infection in humans, we have conducted surveillance of LPMs in Guangdong Province since 2013 as part of en...

Avian influenza virus (AIV) persists in North American wild waterfowl, exhibiting major outbreaks every 2-4 years. Attempts to explain the patterns of periodicity and persistence using simple direct transmission models are unsuccessful. Motivated by empirical evidence, we examine the contribution of an overlooked AIV transmission mode: environmental transmission. It is known that infectious bir...

This experiment aims to demonstrate the efficacy of ceramic powder derived from various sources to inactivate avian influenza virus and its possibility to use in the environment. The ceramics used in the present experiment were derived from chicken feces (CF), scallop shell (SS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and soybean (SB). All ceramics were mixed with low pathogenic AIV (LPAIV) H7N1, and then ke...

H5N6 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) may pose a potential human risk as suggested by the first documented naturally-acquired human H5N6 virus infection in 2014. Here, we report the first cases of fatal H5N6 avian influenza virus (AIV) infection in a domestic cat and wild birds. These cases followed human H5N6 infections in China and preceded an H5N6 outbreak in chickens. The extensive migration ...

Avian influenza (AI) is an acute infectious disease with worldwide significance causing extensive economic losses in the poultry industry. Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae and categorized in the genus influenza virus A. These viruses have been isolated from more than 100 species of free-living birds. Migratory birds are considered as reservoirs for AIVs and a...

Wild aquatic birds in the Orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes are the main reservoir hosts perpetuating the genetic pool of all influenza A viruses, including pandemic viruses. High viral loads in feces of infected birds permit a fecal-oral route of transmission. Numerous studies have reported the isolation of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) from surface water at aquatic bird habitats. These...

An indirect enzyme-Iinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the rapid and efficient large scale screening of antibodies to avian influenza virus (AIV) infection in chicken. Antigen was a whole-purified influenza virus produced from the H9N2 subtype. Optimum dilution for goat anti-chicken conjugate to be used in the ELISA was 1: 1000, as determined by signal-to-noise ratio. The antig...

Rapid and specific detection of avian influenza virus (AIV) is urgently needed due to the concerns over the potential outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza in animals and humans. Aptamers are artificial oligonucleic acids that can bind specific target molecules, and show comparable affinity for target viruses and better thermal stability than monoclonal antibodies. The objective of this...

In this paper, we report a coupling of fluorophore-DNA barcode and bead-based immunoassay for the detection of Avian Influenza Virus (AIV), a potential pandemic threat for human health and enormous economic losses. The detection strategy is based on the use of sandwich immunoassay and fluorophore-tagged oligonucleotides as representatively fluorescent barcodes. Despite its simplicity the assay ...

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solutions were evaluated for their virucidal ability against a low pathogenic avian influenza virus (AIV), H7N1. HOCl solutions containing 50, 100 and 200 ppm chlorine (pH 6) or their sprayed solutions (harvested in dishes placed at 1 or 30 cm distance between the spray nozzle and dish) were mixed with the virus with or without organic materials (5% fetal bovine serum: ...