Serological Surveillance of Wild Waterfowl in Northern Australia for Avian Influenza Virus Shows Variations in Prevalence and a Cyclical Periodicity of Infection

Curran, John M.; Ellis, T.M.; Robertson, Ian D.

doi:10.1637/11113-043015-reg

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Still, antibodies can be detected in blood serum for an extended period of time (i.e. in the order of months) (Curran et al 2015 ; Fereidouni et al 2010 ; Hoque et al 2015 ; Hoye et al 2011 ) and thus much longer than the few days that an AIV infection lasts. This has great repercussions for the temporal resolution requirements of the data, serological screening being more forgiving of irregular temporal spread in data than virological screening, where peaks and troughs in infection dynamics in a population can easily be missed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Poultry or Wild Birds the Main Reservoirs for Avian Influenza in Bangladesh?

et al. 2017

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Avian influenza viruses (AIV) are of great socioeconomic and health concern, notably in Southeast Asia where highly pathogenic strains, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and other H5 and H7 AIVs, continue to occur. Wild bird migrants are often implicated in the maintenance and spread of AIV. However, little systematic surveillance of wild birds has been conducted in Southeast Asia to evaluate whether the prevalence of AIV in wild birds is higher than in other parts of the world where HPAI outbreaks occur less frequently. Across Bangladesh, we randomly sampled a total of 3585 wild and domestic birds to assess the prevalence of AIV and antibodies against AIV and compared these with prevalence levels found in other endemic and non-endemic countries. Our study showed that both resident and migratory wild birds in Bangladesh do not have a particularly elevated AIV prevalence and AIV sero-prevalence compared to wild birds from regions in the world where H5N1 is not endemic and fewer AIV outbreaks in poultry occur. Like elsewhere, notably wild birds of the orders Anseriformes were identified as the main wild bird reservoir, although we found exceptionally high sero-prevalence in one representative of the order Passeriformes, the house crow (Corvus splendens), importantly living on offal from live bird markets. This finding, together with high sero- and viral prevalence levels of AIV in domestic birds, suggests that wild birds are not at the base of the perpetuation of AIV problems in the local poultry sector, but may easily become victim to AIV spill back from poultry into some species of wild birds, potentially assisting in further spread of the virus.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10393-017-1257-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Poultry or Wild Birds the Main Reservoirs for Avian Influenza in Bangladesh?

et al. 2017

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“…Furthermore, H5 HI antibodies were common; 31/260 NP ELISA–positive serum samples had HI titers against HPAI H5N1 virus clade 1 A/chicken/Vietnam/8/2004 ( 21 ). Similarly, serum samples from ducks during this period also had HI antibodies against this clade but not HPAI H5N1 clade 2 viruses ( 21 , 30 ). One explanation for the lack of evidence for circulation of HPAI H5N1 virus clade 1 during this time is that exposure to endemic H5 virus strains in Australia produces HI antibodies with broad serologic cross-reactivity ( 24 , 31 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Serologic Evidence of Exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5 Viruses in Migratory Shorebirds, Australia

Wille¹,

Lisovski²,

Risely³

et al. 2019

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5Nx viruses of the goose/Guangdong/96 lineage continue to cause outbreaks in poultry and wild birds globally. Shorebirds, known reservoirs of avian influenza viruses, migrate from Siberia to Australia along the East-Asian-Australasian Flyway. We examined whether migrating shorebirds spending nonbreeding seasons in Australia were exposed to HPAI H5 viruses. We compared those findings with those for a resident duck species. We screened >1,500 blood samples for nucleoprotein antibodies and tested positive samples for specific antibodies against 7 HPAI H5 virus antigens and 2 low pathogenicity avian influenza H5 virus antigens. We demonstrated the presence of hemagglutinin inhibitory antibodies against HPAI H5 virus clade 2.3.4.4 in the red-necked stint (Calidris ruficolis). We did not find hemagglutinin inhibitory antibodies in resident Pacific black ducks (Anas superciliosa). Our study highlights the potential role of long-distance migratory shorebirds in intercontinental spread of HPAI H5 viruses.

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“…Indeed, despite many parts of Australia being defined as temperate, annual recruitment of immunologically naïve juvenile waterfowl into avian populations is irregular due to highly variable climatic conditions which impact breeding cycles, such that in some years waterfowl may not breed, or breed in small numbers and in other years may attempt to breed multiple times [24]. Unlike the high prevalence of AIVs in temperate northern hemisphere waterfowl, prevalence in Australian waterfowl has consistently been less than 2% with no strong seasonal patterns, however these low prevalence estimates may be driven by the highly aggregated nature of studies [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Furthermore, all Australian waterfowl are endemic and largely nomadic, and do not migrate beyond the Australian-Papuan Region [33,34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australia as a global sink for the genetic diversity of avian influenza A virus

Wille

Grillo

Pedroso

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Most of our understanding of the ecology and evolution of avian influenza A virus (AIV) in wild birds is derived from studies conducted in the northern hemisphere on waterfowl, with a substantial bias towards dabbling ducks. However, relevant environmental conditions and patterns of avian migration and reproduction are substantially different in the southern hemisphere. Through the sequencing and analysis of 333 unique AIV genomes collected from wild birds collected over 15 years we show that Australia is a global sink for AIV diversity and not integrally linked with the Eurasian gene pool. Rather, AIV are infrequently introduced to Australia, followed by decades of isolated circulation and eventual extinction. The number of co-circulating viral lineages varies per subtype. AIV haemagglutinin (HA) subtypes that are rarely identified at duck-centric study sites (H8-12) had more detected introductions and contemporary co-circulating lineages in Australia. Combined with a lack of duck migration beyond the Australian-Papuan region, these findings suggest introductions by long-distance migratory shorebirds. In addition, we found no evidence of directional or consistent patterns in virus movement across the Australian continent. This feature corresponds to patterns of bird movement, whereby waterfowl have nomadic and erratic rainfall-dependant distributions rather than consistent intra-continental migratory routes. Finally, we detected high levels of virus gene segment reassortment, with a high diversity of AIV genome constellations across years and locations. These data, in addition to those from other studies in Africa and South America, clearly show that patterns of AIV dynamics in the Southern Hemisphere are distinct from those in the temperate north.Author SummaryA result of the ever-growing poultry industry is a dramatic global increase in the incidence of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus outbreaks. In contrast, wild birds are believed to be the main reservoir for low pathogenic avian influenza A virus. Due to intensive research and surveillance of AIV in waterfowl in the Northern Hemisphere, we have a better understanding of AIV ecology and evolution in that region compared to the Southern Hemisphere, which are characterised by different patterns of avian migration and ecological conditions. We analysed 333 unique AIV genomes collected from wild birds in Australia to understand how Australia fits into global AIV dynamics and how viruses are maintained and dispersed within the continent of Australia. We show that the Southern Hemisphere experiences differing evolutionary dynamics to those seen in Northern Hemisphere with Australia representing a global sink for AIV.

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Serological Surveillance of Wild Waterfowl in Northern Australia for Avian Influenza Virus Shows Variations in Prevalence and a Cyclical Periodicity of Infection

Cited by 13 publications

References 20 publications

Are Poultry or Wild Birds the Main Reservoirs for Avian Influenza in Bangladesh?

Are Poultry or Wild Birds the Main Reservoirs for Avian Influenza in Bangladesh?

Serologic Evidence of Exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5 Viruses in Migratory Shorebirds, Australia

Australia as a global sink for the genetic diversity of avian influenza A virus

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