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Avian influenza
Avian influenza is a viral infection found in domestic poultry and a wide range of other birds. Wild waterfowl and shorebirds are often subclinically affected carriers of the virus. In poultry, low-pathogenicity strains can cause subclinical infections; however, some strains typically cause respiratory signs or decreased egg production. Highly pathogenic strains may cause widespread organ failure and sudden death, often with high mortality rates. Diagnosis is based on detection of the viral genome or specific antibodies or on virus isolation. Antimicrobials may help control secondary bacterial infection in flocks affected by low-pathogenicity strains. Antiviral drugs are not approved or recommended. Prevention is best accomplished by biosecurity measures. Vaccines matched for antigenic type can greatly increase resistance to infection, prevent clinical signs, and decrease viral shedding in infected flocks.
Avian influenza is caused by type A influenza virus. The symptoms can vary from a mild disease with little or no mortality to a highly fatal, rapidly spreading epidemic (highly pathogenic avian influenza) depending on the infecting virus strain, host factors, and environmental stressors. Hosts More avian influenza viruses have been isolated from ducks than any other species although most free-flying birds may also be infected...
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1) First and foremost, the H5N1 virus causing problems in Asia, Europe, and Africa has not been detected anywhere in North, Central or South America at this time. 2) Properly cooked poultry meat is safe to eat in any case as cooking destroys the virus. It is recommended that poultry meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit throughout each piece. ...
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Nanogen, Inc., developer of in vitro diagnostic products announced today it has been awarded a new $10.4 million, two-year contract from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a multi-analyte molecular diagnostic assay for Influenza. This new contract will have Nanogen develop a fast molecular test that simultaneously detects and differentiates Influenza Type A, Influenza Type B, seasonal flu (H1N1 and H3N2) strains, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The...
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The complete genetic coding sequences of 150 different avian influenza viruses were released today by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and government, industry and university collaborators. The information improves scientific understanding of avian influenza, a virus that mainly infects birds but that can also infect humans. "This is a major milestone in avian influenza research," said David Suarez, research leader of the Exotic and Emerging Avian Viral...
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Scientists have found evidence that North American avian influenza viruses of the H7 subtype are becoming more like human flu viruses in their ability to attach to host cells, which suggests they may be improving their capacity to infect humans. The investigators determined that several recent North American H7 viruses have an increased ability to bind to a type of receptor molecule that is abundant on human tracheal cells and is less common in birds. Their results were published this...
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Recent outbreaks of avian influenza, or bird flu, have become a worldwide concern in light of widespread mortality in domestic poultry and wild aquatic bird species. Scientists are equally concerned about the possibility of an avian influenza pandemic developing in humans. The rapid spread of H5N1 - the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu - to new locations and species has necessitated development of detection and monitoring methods for birds and their aquatic habitats. Colorado State...
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Will New Version of GMP Boost the Veterinary Drugs Industry?
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Infectious diseases, such as Avian Influenza (AI), pose a constant threat to commercial poultry production worldwide, and the Canadian poultry industry is no exception. Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in British Columbia and Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT) in Ontario in 2004, plus the detection of several low pathogenic AI strains in waterfowl across Canada in 2005, demonstrate that the risk of infection with serious diseases, although low, is constantly present. The...
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Following the success of the evaluation trials conducted at the prestigious National University Hospital of Singapore, Veredus Laboratories and STMicroelectronics yesterday announced the commercial availability of VereFlu™, a portable lab-on-chip application for rapid detection of all major influenza types at the point of need. Unlike existing diagnostic methods, VereFlu is a breakthrough molecular diagnostic test that can detect infection with high accuracy and sensitivity, within two hours...
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PuriCore, the life sciences company focused on the control of infectious pathogens with its novel, safe antimicrobial technology, announces that its Sterilox Solution has been proven highly effective against pandemic H5N1 avian influenza, a highly contagious and lethal outbreak pathogen. The research showed that Sterilox Solution completely inactivated the H5N1 test strain and passed the US Environmental Protection Agencyʼs recommended hard-surface disinfection test, which requires...
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The first case of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza has been confirmed in Pakistan. Laboratory tests conducted by the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory in Cairo, Egypt and WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza, in London, United Kingdom have confirmed the presence of avian influenza virus strain A (H5N1) in samples collected from one case in an affected family. The H5N1 positive case was a 25 year old male from the Peshawar area who developed febrile...
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When Bali was hit for the first time by an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, the local economy was still reeling from the impact of bombings in the island’s Kuta nightclub and restaurant precinct. It was late 2003 and another crushing blow for local tourism, Bali’s main industry. Officially, there have been no human deaths in Bali caused by bird flu—also known as avian influenza (AI). But the threat is enough to create panic whenever and wherever the disease appears....
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Following further test results from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) the Acting Chief Veterinary Officer has confirmed that the strain of Avian Influenza present at the Infected Premises near Diss is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. Further characterisation of the virus is in progress, which may give an indication of the origin of the strain. Local authorities and Animal Health are enforcing a 3km Protection Zone, a 10km Surveillance Zone and a wider Restricted Zone covering...
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Avian influenza A (AI) H5N1, also known as Asian bird flu, is at the forefront of nearly every daily news report around the world. The reason for this intense interest in AI H5N1 is due to the growing fear that a global pandemic might occur if exchange of genetic material between H5N1 and a human influenza virus results in a virus that can be transmitted from person to person. Avian influenza A viruses pose the threat of initiating new pandemics in humans because the human population...
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The control of epizootics of avian influenza should not rely absolutely on the enforcement and application of phytosanitary regulations (such as culling of infected or suspected birds), with improved biosecurity measures alone, as this may not ensure full proof control of the disease, especially in developing countries with poorer financial resources. The enforcement policy of “stamping out“ for AI was drafted by OIE in 1980, but enacted in...
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An Auburn University veterinary professor in collaboration with researchers at Vaxin Inc. of Birmingham has developed the first "in ovo," or egg-injected, vaccine to protect chickens against avian influenza, a virus threatening human health and global poultry populations.
Haroldo Toro, whose research has been published in the scientific journal Vaccine, says it would provide 100 percent protection once an outbreak's strain is determined.
"We have proven the principle, which is the major...
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The European Union Wednesday lifted a two-year ban on South African ostrich meat imposed after bird flu fears which led to the culling of tens of thousands of birds, the agriculture ministry said.
“The European Union informed South Africa that it accepts the country’s status as free from highly pathogenic notifiable avian influenza,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The export of fresh ostrich meat can therefore resume as from 1 November 2006,” under a new protocol which stipulates...
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A new strain of the killer H5N1 avian flu virus had emerged and become the dominant strain in southern China and southeast Asia by early this year, displacing previous ones, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The strain appeared to be resistant to the current chicken vaccination program and might even be aided by it. It might have begun the third wave of transmission of H5N1 avian flu and could potentially spread throughout Eurasia, the scientists warned in the latest edition of the...
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Bird flu may return to Europe in the coming weeks, spread by wild ducks, swans and geese carrying the lethal virus south from their Arctic mating grounds. Twenty-six European nations reported initial infections of the H5N1 avian influenza strain in poultry or wild birds in late 2005 and early 2006 after a severe winter in Russia and the Caucasus area pushed migratory birds south and westward. The Food and Agriculture Organization said a resurgence of H5N1 in China and Russia indicates...
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Authorities in Zanzibar have incinerated another consignment of chicken eggs smuggled from mainland Tanzania, in the hope of keeping their islands free of avian flu.
"We seized the egg consignment of about 11 boxes imported from the Tanzanian mainland commercial capital of Dar es Salaam," said Kassim Gharib, the head of a task force formed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Natural Resources and Environment.
The task force was establised to ensure that bird flu does not spread...
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Around 700,000 birds have been culled in Nigeria since the outbreak of Avian flu in February this year, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chijioke Osakwe, as giving the figure in a paper he presented at a public function in southeastern city of Enugu.
Osakwe said the birds were culled at a cost of 560 million naira (4.3 million dollars/ 3.4 million euros).
He said the country's poultry industry had 140 million birds,...
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