Introduction of influenza viruses with gene segments of avian origin into the human population may result in the emergence of new pathogenic human influenza viruses. The recent infection of a 3-year-old boy with an influenza A (H5N1) virus of avian origin can be considered as an example of such an event. However, this virus, influenza A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1) and the 17 additional H5N1 viruses...

Avian influenza viruses are a source of genetic material that can be transmitted to humans through direct introduction or reassortment. Although there is a wealth of information concerning global monitoring for antiviral resistance among human viruses of the N1 and N2 neuraminidase (NA) subtypes, information concerning avian viruses of these and other NA subtypes is limited. We undertook a surv...

New Zealand has never experienced an outbreak of avian influenza, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has long been wary of the possibility of introducing high-pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) viruses in imported goods. Besides the potential threat posed to poultry, there are concerns that introduced viruses might have negative effects on already endangered native avian species. Un...

The rapid outbreak of the highly pathogenic A/H5N1 avian influenza virus among domestic birds and its transmission to humans have induced world-wide fears of a new influenza pandemic. If a human-trophic strain of A/H5N1 is replicated in domestic animals, it might have high transmissivity and pathogenicity to humans. If the misassembling of both avian and swine influenza viruses occur in the sam...

Since the mid-1970s, Hong Kong has functioned as an influenza sentinel post for southern China, a region identified as a hypothetical epicentre for the emergence of pandemic influenza viruses. Nineteen ninety-seven marked the coming-of-age of animal-influenza studies with the recognition in Hong Kong of an incipient pandemic situation brought about by the infection of chicken and humans with an...

Wild aquatic birds are the primary reservoir of influenza A viruses, but little is known about the viruses' gene pool in wild birds. Therefore, we investigated the ecology and emergence of influenza viruses by conducting phylogenetic analysis of 70 matrix (M) genes of influenza viruses isolated from shorebirds and gulls in the Delaware Bay region and from ducks in Alberta, Canada, during >18 ye...

Nigeria has had multiple incursions of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) H5N1 virus into its poultry population since 2006. This study aimed to determine if Nigerians exposed to poultry had evidence of avian influenza virus transmission to man. Between 2008 and 2010, 316 adult farmers and open market workers and 54 age-group matched, non-animal exposed controls were enrolled in a prosp...

For viruses such as avian influenza, immunity within a host population can drive the emergence of new strains by selecting for viruses with novel antigens that avoid immune recognition. The accumulation of acquired immunity with age is hypothesized to affect how influenza viruses emerge and spread in species of different lifespans. Despite its importance for understanding the behaviour of avian...

The influenza virus genes that confer efficient transmission of epidemic and pandemic strains in humans have not been identified. The rapid spread and severe disease caused by the 1918 influenza pandemic virus makes it an ideal virus to study the transmissibility of potentially pandemic influenza strains. Here, we used a series of human 1918-avian H1N1 influenza reassortant viruses to identify ...