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The main objective is to understand subtypes of avian influenza viruses in migrating wild birds passing through the US via various flyways.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: <BR> Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) impose a serious economic threat to US poultry industry once introduced. However all surveillance programs for AIV focuses on early detection of highly pathogenic AIV such as H5 and H7 subtypes. There is vacuum in our understanding for other subtypes of AIV which could be introduced to US poultry populations via migrating wild birds. The proposed project is to fill in this knowledge vacuum by employing virus isolation and molecular characterization of isoaltes so that we can have better understanding of AIV behavior among wild birds and be better prepared for avian influenza control when needed.
<P> APPROACH: <BR> Virus isolation will be attempted to obtain as many isolates as possible from samples which had been collected from migrating water fowls (particularly Mallard ducks) as part of NAHNL surveillance and tested positive by PCR for influenza A virus. Isolates will be sequenced for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes to determine subtypes. Data will be analyzed for each flyway to understadn the prevalence of subtypes in migrating wild birds.