Two groups of scientists who carried out highly controversial studies
with the avian influenza virus H5N1 have reluctantly agreed to strike certain details from manuscripts describing their work after having been asked to do so by a U.S. biosecurity council.
Not exact matches
It is feared that if the
avian influenza virus combines
with a human
influenza virus (in a bird or a human), the new subtype created could be both highly contagious and highly lethal in humans.
In March 2013 the first human infections
with the
avian influenza A (H7N9)
virus were reported in China, and since that time hundreds of cases have been documented.
Ebright: Future work
with lab - generated transmissible
avian influenza viruses should be performed only at the highest biosafety level, only at the highest biosecurity standard, and only after approval by, and under the oversight of, a national or international review process that identifies risks and benefits, weighs risks and benefits, mitigates risks, and manages risks.
«These characteristics fit
with increased virulence of these emerging
avian H7
viruses compared to that of human
influenza viruses,» says Dr. Kuiken.
Using
virus histochemical analysis, the investigators looked at the pattern of attachment of two genetically engineered emerging H7
viruses (containing the hemagglutinin (HA) of either
influenza virus A / Shanghai / 1 / 13 or A / Anhui / 1 / 13) to fixed human respiratory tract tissues and compared the findings to attachment patterns seen
with human
influenza viruses with high transmissibility but low virulence (seasonal H3N2 and pandemic H1N1) and highly pathogenic
avian influenza (HPAI)
viruses with low transmissibility and high virulence (H5N1 and H7N7).
I understand China's desire to curtail the spread of
Influenza A, both to buy more time to prepare a vaccine and to limit the opportunities that the virus will mix with the far more lethal avian influenza endemic to th
Influenza A, both to buy more time to prepare a vaccine and to limit the opportunities that the
virus will mix
with the far more lethal
avian influenza endemic to th
influenza endemic to the region.
Now researchers report new evidence for such a link: Mice infected
with the H5N1
avian influenza virus lose the same dopamine - releasing neurons that are destroyed by Parkinson's disease.
In 2011, it became embroiled in heated debates about «gain - of - function» experiments
with the deadly
avian influenza virus H5N1 that made it more transmissible in mammals.
«As the risks of such research and its publication are debated by the community, I argue that we should pursue transmission studies of highly pathogenic
avian influenza viruses with urgency,» he writes in Nature.
In additional experiments, the scientists found that participants who had significant antibody responses did not necessarily also have significant immune system T cell responses to
avian viruses, indicating that these two arms of immunity can be independently boosted after vaccination or infection; that individuals who reported receiving seasonal
influenza vaccination had significantly higher antibodies to the
avian H4, H5, H6, and H8 subtypes; and that participants
with exposure to poultry had significantly higher antibody responses to the H7 subtype, but to none of the other subtypes tested.
By comparing gene expression in the lungs of ducks infected
with either highly or weakly pathogenic
avian influenza H5N1
viruses, the team identified genes whose expression patterns were altered in response to
avian influenza viruses.
When the researchers exposed chickens to lethal doses of the
avian influenza virus and the Newcastle
virus, birds inoculated
with the recombinant vaccine produced antibodies against both
viruses, offering protection against both diseases.
But Tompkins warns that repeated vaccinations
with distinct hemagglutinins would probably be needed to protect birds from the many strains of
avian influenza virus.
Insights into
Avian Influenza Virus Pathogenicity: the Hemagglutinin Precursor HA0 of Subtype H16 Has an Alpha - Helix Structure in Its Cleavage Site
with Inefficient HA1 / HA2 Cleavage
Similar to the results obtained
with cultured human cells, the transgenic mice were resistant to
avian influenza viruses but susceptible to flu
viruses of human origin.
IRTA has also developed multiple animal and / or arthropod models to work
with zoonotic pathogens such as
avian and swine
influenza, RVFV, MERS - coronavirus, West Nile
virus and chikungunya
virus.
As dogs have been infected
with both mammalian and
avian influenza viruses, they have the potential to act like pigs, as «mixing vessel» hosts for the generation of new strains.
Filed Under: 3rd year, Vet Student Experience Tagged
With: 3rd year, APHIS,
avian influenza, disease outbreak, foot and mouth disease
virus, foot - and - mouth, foot - and - mouth disease, foreign animal disease, poultry, public health, Smith - Kilborne Fellowship, USDA, vet school, vet student, Veterinary Experience, veterinary school, veterinary student
Avian influenza infections in cats appear to be associated
with outbreaks in domestic or wild birds by way of eating raw meat infected
with the
virus.
Only in rare cases have dogs been known to become infected
with avian influenza, and most of the studies of dogs which tested positive for
avian influenza were performed in dogs which were infected
with the
virus for laboratory studies.