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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 viruses do not thrive in humans because the temperature inside a person's nose is too low, according to research published today in the journal PLoS Pathogens . The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and the University of North Carolina, say this may be one of the reasons why bird flu viruses do not cause pandemics in humans easily.
There are 16 subtypes of avian influenza and some can mutate into forms that can infect humans,...
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This document consolidates pre-existing WHO guidance on protection of individuals engaged in activities involving high contact with poultry or wild birds confirmed or highly suspected of being infected with avian influenza H5N1 virus. High-contact activities include handling, collecting, transporting, culling, and disposal of birds, and cleaning/disinfection of contaminated areas.
All individuals involved in these activities should:
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Veterinary APIs Market Update: Price Trends & Key Insights – February 2025
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Scientists have identified a small family of lab-made proteins that neutralize a broad range of influenza A viruses, including the H5N1 avian virus, the 1918 pandemic influenza virus and seasonal H1N1 flu viruses. These human monoclonal antibodies, identical infection-fighting proteins derived from the same cell lineage, also were found to protect mice from illness caused by H5N1 and other influenza A viruses. Because large quantities of monoclonal antibodies can be made relatively quickly,...
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Scientists are looking at a novel strategy to prevent the spread of pandemic avian influenza. They have developed a vaccine that protects ducks, a known natural reservoir for the virus. They reported their findings in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Virology
Waterfowl are considered to be the natural reservoir of influenza A viruses due to the isolation of all subtypes from these hosts. Current research indicates that influenza A viruses are continuously evolving...
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What is avian influenza? Influenza is an ancient disease that has plagued humans throughout recorded history. There are three types of influenza virus, A, B and C (CDC, 2005b). All three types of influenza have been found circulating in the human population. However, influenza type A is the influenza virus that mainly infects wild birds. Avian influenza occurs naturally in the intestines of wild birds worldwide, and although most wild birds are asymptomatic, bird flu is very...
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India culled more than 524,000 birds in West Bengal and Assam states to contain an outbreak of avian flu among poultry, the government said.
About 290 health workers are conducting house-to-house inspections in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, where 41,906 birds have been culled so far, according to an e-mailed statement from New Delhi. The government confirmed an outbreak of the flu in the district on Jan. 6.
In the northeastern state of Assam, avian flu has spread to...
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A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested. The avian flu, an Influenza A subtype dubbed H5N1, is evolving a resistance to a group of antiviral drugs known as adamantanes, one of two classes of antiviral drugs used to prevent and treat flu symptoms, said...
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Outbreaks of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in Southeast Asia and the transmission of this disease to a few humans there have resulted in a great deal of coverage by the media. Avian influenza is a serious respiratory disease of poultry caused by a virus. Although it is a disease that all poultry producing countries should be concerned about, it is a long way from being a serious health threat for humans. The following are some facts regarding this disease of...
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Wild migratory birds appear to be important carriers of avian influenza viruses from continent to continent, according to new research that scientists say has important implications for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus surveillance in North America. Migratory bird species, including many waterfowl and shorebirds, that frequently carry low pathogenic avian influenza and migrate between continents may carry Asian strains of the virus along their migratory pathways to North America....
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Background and History: Avian Influenza is a disease that can cause extremely high mortality in poultry. Outbreaks have cost the industry many millions to eradicate and the 1994-95 outbreak in Mexico that is still a problem in certain areas of that country. Costs can be devastating to producers since entire flocks can die in only a few hours after infection with a highly virulent strain of Avian Influenza. The costs associated with Avian...
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A Poultry CRC researcher based at the Australian Centre for Poultry Immunogenomics is using emerging biotechnologies to detect avian influenza across a range of bird species. Viral diseases such as avian influenza infect the cells of a bird and, using the machinery of the cell, create multiple copies of the virus which are set free as the cell bursts and dies. To do this, the virus takes control of the cells’ genes and alters the way in which...
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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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Digestible lysine requirements of male broilers from 1 to 42 days of age reassessed
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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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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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Veterinary APIs Market Update: Price Trends & Key Insights – February 2025
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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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