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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Exotic & Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342080
Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Prevent and Control Disease Outbreaks Caused by Emerging Strains of Avian Influenza Viruses

Location: Exotic & Emerging Avian Viral Diseases Research

Title: Studying the pathogenicity of avian influenza viruses in different avian species

Author
item Pantin Jackwood, Mary

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/22/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Avian influenza (AI) viruses are significant pathogens of domestic poultry worldwide. Wild aquatic birds are the primordial reservoirs of AI viruses, which are classified as low pathogenic (LP) and can be any of the 16 hemagglutinin subtypes (H1-16). Circulation of H5 or H7 subtype LPAI viruses in gallinaceous birds can select for mutations which result in the highly pathogenic (HP) phenotype. AI viruses, including HPAI viruses, are usually non-pathogenic for ducks and other wild aquatic birds, with the exception of A/goose/Guangdong/1996 (Gs/GD/96) H5 HPAI virus lineage of which several variants are circulating in domestic poultry and waterfowl in Asia with some variants spreading to other regions of the world. These H5 HPAI viruses can cause moderate to severe disease in waterfowl and other wild bird species. With the continuous occurrence of AI outbreaks in poultry it’s important to asses host susceptibility, viral pathogenesis, and mechanisms of virus transmission in different avian species. Carefully designed infection studies aim to describe the pathogenesis (clinical signs, lesions), presence of the viruses in tissues, duration and titer of virus shedding, transmission to contact birds, and seroconversion in different avian species, with the objective of better understanding the infection process in order to improve strategies for early detection of AI viruses in domestic and wild birds. The success of AI control strategies is largely dependent on having a detailed understanding of AI virus infection and epidemiology in different birds. The primary objective of this presentation is to summarize AI experimental studies that have been conducted in different bird species and have contributed to our understanding of AI virus infection in birds and provided valuable information for interpreting AI surveillance results.