Serological evidence of H7, H5 and H9 avian influenza virus co-infection among herons in a city park in Jiangxi, China.

Extensive surveillance of influenza A viruses in different avian species is critical for understanding its transmission. Here, a breeding colony of Little Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons was monitored both serologically and virologically in a city park of Jiangxi in 2009. A portion of herons had antibodies against H7 (52%), H5 (55%) and H9 (6%) subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) in egg yolk samples, and 45% had antibodies against different AIV serotypes (H5, H7 or H9) simultaneously. Greater numbers of samples with anti-AIV H5N1 recombination-4 (Re-4, clade 7) antibodies were measured compared with those containing anti-H5N1 Re-1 (clade 0) and Re-5 (clade 2.3.4) antibodies. Eight strains of H5 and 9 strains of H9 were isolated from poultry of nearby markets. These results indicate wild birds are at risk from infection and co-infection with H7, H5, and H9 subtypes. Investigation of wild bird infection might provide an early warning sign of potential novel AIVs circulating in the nearby poultry industry and even in human society.

Global spatiotemporal and genetic footprint of the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

BACKGROUND: Since 2005, the Qinghai-like lineage of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus H5N1 has rapidly spread westward to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reaching a dominant level at a global scale in 2006. METHODS: Based on a combination of genetic sequence data and H5N1 outbreak information from 2005 to 2011, we use an interdisciplinary approach to improve our understanding of the transmission pattern of this particular clade 2.2, and present cartography of global spatiotemporal transmission footprints with genetic characteristics. RESULTS: Four major viral transmission routes were derived with three sources- Russia, Mongolia, and the Middle East (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia)-in the three consecutive years 2005, 2006 and 2007. With spatiotemporal transmission along each route, genetic distances to isolate A/goose/Guangdong/1996 are becoming significantly larger, leading to a more challenging situation in certain regions like Korea, India, France, Germany, Nigeria and Sudan. Europe and India have had at least two incursions along multiple routes, causing a mixed virus situation. In addition, spatiotemporal distribution along the routes showed that 2007/2008 was a temporal separation point for the infection of different host species; specifically, wild birds were the main host in 2005-2007/2008 and poultry was responsible for the genetic mutation in 2009-2011. "Global-to-local" and "high-to-low latitude" transmission footprints have been observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that both wild birds and poultry play important roles in the transmission of the H5N1 virus clade, but with different spatial, temporal, and genetic dominance. These characteristics necessitate that special attention be paid to countries along the transmission routes.

Identifying risk factors of avian infectious diseases at household level in Poyang Lake region, China.

Poultry kept in backyard farms are susceptible to acquiring and spreading infectious diseases because of free ranging and poor biosecurity measures. Since some of these diseases are zoonoses, this is also a significant health concern to breeders and their families. Backyard farms are common in rural regions of China. However, there is lack of knowledge of backyard poultry in the country. To obtain first-hand information of backyard poultry and identify risk factors of avian infectious diseases, a cross-sectional study was carried out at household level in rural regions around Poyang Lake. A door-to-door survey was conducted to collect data on husbandry practices, trading practices of backyard farmers, and surrounding environments of backyard farms. Farms were categorized into cases and controls based on their history of poultry death. Data were collected for 137 farms, and the association with occurrence of poultry death event was explored by chi-square tests. Results showed that vaccination implementation was a protective factor (odds ratio OR=0.40, 95% confidence interval CI: 0.20-0.80, p=0.01), while contact with other backyard flocks increased risk (OR=1.72, 95% CI: 0.79-3.74, p=0.16). A concept of "farm connectivity" characterized by the density of particular land-use types in the vicinity of the farm was proposed to characterize the degree of contact between poultry in one household farm and those in other household farms. It was found that housing density in a 20-m buffer zone of the farmhouse was most significantly associated with poultry death occurrence (OR=1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.17, p=0.03), and was in agreement with observation of villagers. Binary logistic regression was applied to evaluate the relationship between poultry death event and density of land-use types in all buffer zones. When integrated with vaccination implementation for poultry, prediction accuracy of poultry death event reached 72.0%. Results combining questionnaire survey with geographical approaches indicated that occurrence of poultry death event among backyard farms within a village was heavily impacted by farm connectivity. This study provides new insight for the study and help to develop more targeted prevention and countermeasure in a typical rural environment of China.

Risk factors for infectious diseases in backyard poultry farms in the Poyang Lake area, China.

Emergence and transmission of infectious diseases have an enormous impact on the poultry industry and present a serious threat to the health of humans and wild birds. Noncommercial poultry operations, such as backyard poultry facilities in China, are potential sources of virus exchange between commercial poultry and wild birds. It is particularly critical in wetland areas where backyard poultry have close contact with commercial poultry and migratory birds, therefore increasing the risk of contracting infectious diseases. To evaluate the transmission risks, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in the Poyang Lake area, China, involving 309 residents in the backyard poultry farms in three counties (Region A, B, and C) of Jiangxi Province. We examined the backyard poultry population, poultry species, presence of poultry deaths from infectious diseases, food sources, and biosecurity practices. Region B ranked highest for biosecurity while region C ranked lowest. The risks of infectious diseases were assessed by adjusted odds ratio based on multivariate logistic regression analysis. Potential risk factors in the three regions of the study site were compared. In Region A, significant factor was contact of poultry with wild birds (OR: 6.573, 95% CI: 2.148-20.115, P=0.001). In Region B, the most significant factor was contact of poultry with neighboring backyard waterfowls (OR: 3.967, 95% CI: 1.555-10.122, P=0.004). In Region C, significant factors were poultry purchase from local live bird markets (OR: 3.740, 95% CI: 1.243-11.255, P=0.019), and contact of poultry with wild birds (OR: 3.379, 95% CI: 1.058-10.791, P=0.040). In summary, backyard poultry was significantly affected by neighboring commercial poultry and close contact with wild birds. The results are expected to improve our understanding of the transmission risks of infectious diseases in a typical backyard poultry environment in rural China, and address the need to improve local farming practices and take preventive measures.