Animal and Human Health Implications of Avian Influenza Infections

Abstract

Avian influenza (AI) is a listed disease of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) that has become a disease of great importance both for animal and human health. Until recent times, AI was considered a disease of birds with zoonotic implications of limited significance. The emergence and spread of the Asian lineage highly pathogenic AI (HPAI) H5N1 virus has dramatically changed this perspective; not only has it been responsible of the death or culling of millions of birds, but this virus has also been able to infect a variety of non-avian hosts including human beings. The implications of such a panzootic reflect themselves in animal health issues, notably in the reduction of a protein source for developing countries and in the management of the pandemic potential. Retrospective studies have shown that avian progenitors play an important role in the generation of pandemic viruses for humans, and therefore these infections in the avian reservoir should be subjected to control measures aiming at eradication of the Asian H5N1 virus from all sectors rather than just eliminating or reducing the impact of the disease in poultry.

Structure–function relationship of the saponins from the roots of Platycodon grandiflorum for hemolytic and adjuvant activity

“…Avian influenza is worldwide occurring infectious diseases of poultry [45]. During the last decade extensive outbreaks of fowl plague caused by the highly pathogenic avian influenza A viruses (HPAIV) of hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes H5 or H7 combined with various neuraminidase (NA) subtypes occurred in most parts of the world [46,47]. HPAIV is highly lethal in poultry, with mortality that ranges up to 100%, and can cause large outbreaks leading to substantial economic loss and can spread directly from poultry to human, constituting a possible "pandemic threat" to the human population [48].…”

Immunization with Plant-Expressed Hemagglutinin Protects Chickens from Lethal Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Challenge Infection

“…Furthermore, benefits that result from the use of novel recombinant vaccines are the implementation of a DIVA concept (contrary to classical inactivated vaccines) and safety reasons (contrary to live vaccine viruses, which might recombine and revert to virulence). Vector vaccines based on Newcastle disease virus (NDV), fowlpox virus (FPV), or infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), which expressed rHA0, have been shown to protect chickens reliably against experimental challenge infections with homologous HPAIV isolates, and FPV-as well as NDV-derived vaccines have already been used in practice (3,4,10,17,18,22,23,24). Additionally, rHA0 expressed in a baculovirus system could protect chickens against homologous challenge infection, indicating the capability of purified rHA0 to induce a protective immune response (6,14).…”

Platycodin D Improves the Immunogenicity of Newcastle Disease Virus‐Based Recombinant Avian Influenza Vaccine in Mice

“…-Avian influenza is a worldwide occurring infectious disease of poultry [1]. During the last decade, extensive outbreaks of fowl plague caused by the highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) of the hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes H5 or H7 combined with various neuraminidase (NA) subtypes occurred in most parts of the world [2] [3]. Since the middle of 2005, the outbreak was widely spread by infected wild waterfowls carrying viruses, and more than 50 countries in Russia, Middle East Asia, Africa, and Europe were affected [4].…”