Influenza virus can spread from poultry to humans
A less-virulent strain of avian influenza virus can spread from poultry to humans, suggests a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Previous studies have focused on the ability of highly pathogenic strains to spread from poultry to humans. But, according to this study, less pathogenic strains are also capable of jumping to humans, giving them the opportunity to swap genetic material with human strains, which could result in a more virulent virus.
Researchers in Italy studied outbreaks that occurred among poultry between 1999 and 2003, to determine the risk of avian influenza virus transmission to persons in contact with the animals. The outbreaks occurred in northern Italy in regions where the majority of the country's commercial poultry are raised on farms.
They performed a serologic analysis of individuals exposed to infection during the outbreaks, collecting 983 blood samples from poultry farm workers in the outbreak regions.
The outbreaks involved two serotypes of avian influenza: one low and one highly pathogenic H7N1 and a low pathogenic H7N3 virus. Seven individuals exposed to the more recent outbreak of low pathogenic H7N3 tested seropositive for H7N3. The infected persons came from different farms in two locations and had close contact with turkeys or chickens.
The authors of the study, Dr. Isabella Donatelli and colleagues, say their findings highlight the importance of improving disease surveillance not only during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu, but also when less pathogenic strains are circulating.
To forestall genetic exchange between human and avian strains, as in mixed infections, they emphasized that poultry workers should be systematically vaccinated, pointing out that such workers are identified as high-risk and included in the annual Italian vaccination campaign. (ANI)
Previous studies have focused on the ability of highly pathogenic strains to spread from poultry to humans. But, according to this study, less pathogenic strains are also capable of jumping to humans, giving them the opportunity to swap genetic material with human strains, which could result in a more virulent virus.
Researchers in Italy studied outbreaks that occurred among poultry between 1999 and 2003, to determine the risk of avian influenza virus transmission to persons in contact with the animals. The outbreaks occurred in northern Italy in regions where the majority of the country's commercial poultry are raised on farms.
They performed a serologic analysis of individuals exposed to infection during the outbreaks, collecting 983 blood samples from poultry farm workers in the outbreak regions.
The outbreaks involved two serotypes of avian influenza: one low and one highly pathogenic H7N1 and a low pathogenic H7N3 virus. Seven individuals exposed to the more recent outbreak of low pathogenic H7N3 tested seropositive for H7N3. The infected persons came from different farms in two locations and had close contact with turkeys or chickens.
The authors of the study, Dr. Isabella Donatelli and colleagues, say their findings highlight the importance of improving disease surveillance not only during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu, but also when less pathogenic strains are circulating.
To forestall genetic exchange between human and avian strains, as in mixed infections, they emphasized that poultry workers should be systematically vaccinated, pointing out that such workers are identified as high-risk and included in the annual Italian vaccination campaign. (ANI)
posted by ... at 4:32 PM
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