Detection of avian paramyxoviruses and influenza viruses amongst wild bird populations in Victoria

Abstract

Twenty-five viruses were isolated, none of which resembled progenitor or virulent genotypes. This study provides valuable epidemiological information against which to compare future isolates from outbreaks of disease to determine their origin.

Identifying crucial gaps in our knowledge of the life-history of avian influenza viruses—an Australian perspective

“…Of all the LPAI subtypes identified in wild birds from other parts of the world, most have also been found in Australia (Downie and Laver 1973;Downie et al 1977;Mackenzie et al 1984Mackenzie et al , 1985Nestorowicz et al 1987;Peroulis and O'Riley 2004;Hurt et al 2006;Haynes et al 2009), including subtypes H5 and H7 (which have potential for HPAI phenotype; see Box 1). Studies on AIV gene segments isolated from wild birds in Australia indicate these viruses maintain phylogenetic relationships with those from Eurasia and, to a lesser extent, North America (Donis et al 1989;Banks et al 2000;Kishida et al 2008).…”

Will Wallace's Line Save Australia from Avian Influenza?

“…A wide range of low pathogenicity strains of avian influenza (LPAI) have been reported in wild bird species within Australia, including all H types except H10, H14, and H16 (Downie and Laver 1973, Downie et al 1977, Mackenzie et al 1984, Mackenzie et al 1985, Nestorowicz et al 1987, Rohm et al 1996, Peroulis and O'Riley 2004, Tracey et al 2004, Turner 2004, Hurt et al 2006). Tracey et al (2004) and Sims and Turner (2008) provide an overview of these reports.…”

The role of wild birds in the transmission of avian influenza for Australia: an ecological perspective

“…In other studies Charadriiformes (shorebirds, plovers and lapwings) (Kawaoka et al 1988) and spoonbills (Astorga et al 1994) have also been found to have a high prevalence of the virus, with isolation rates of up to 20% and 32% respectively. In Australia, prevalence of the virus is found to be much lower (Mackenzie et al 1984(Mackenzie et al , 1985Peroulis and O'Riley 2004). Isolation rates and subtypes vary considerably over time, region and between species (Kawaoka et al 1988;Sharp et al 1993).…”

“…Most subtypes (H1, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7 1 , H11, H12) have been detected in Australian wild birds (Downie and Laver 1973;Downie et al 1977;Mackenzie et al 1984Mackenzie et al , 1985Nestorowicz et al 1987;Peroulis and O'Riley 2004). In Australia, no quantitative links have been made to wild birds during the five previous HPAI outbreaks in poultry.…”

“…However, to allow targeted surveillance, four prevalence classes have been identified to describe the relative occurrence of avian influenza virus (Table 1). Information contained in Table 1 was derived from information gathered from within Australia (Downie and Laver 1973;Downie et al 1977;Mackenzie et al 1984Mackenzie et al , 1985Nestorowicz et al 1987;Peroulis and O'Riley 2004) and review publications of studies conducted in the Northern Hemisphere (Stallknecht and Shane 1988;Stallknecht 1998;Hanson 2003). Of the 27 families known to move between Australia and Asia (Appendix), avian influenza infection is suggested to commonly occur in Anatidae and occasionally in Charadriidae (plovers, dotterels and lapwings), Laridae (skuas, jaegers, gulls and terns) and Scolopacidae (snipe, godwits, curlews, sandpipers, stints and phalaropes) ( Table 1).…”