Tammiranta N, Isomursu M, Fusaro A, Nylund M, Noki. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infections in wild carnivores connected to mass mortalities of pheasants in Finland. Infect Genet Evol. 2023 Mar 6:105423
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has caused widespread mortality in both wild and domestic birds in Europe during 2020-2022. Virus types H5N8 and H5N1 have dominated the epidemic. Isolated spill-over infections in mammals started to emerge as the epidemic continued. In autumn 2021, HPAI H5N1 caused a series of mass mortality events in farmed and released pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in a restricted area in southern Finland. Later, in the same area, an otter (Lutra lutra), two red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and a lynx (Lynx lynx) were found moribund or dead and infected with H5N1 HPAI virus. Phylogenetically, H5N1 strains from pheasants and mammals clustered together. Molecular analyses of the four mammalian virus strains revealed mutations in the PB2 gene segment (PB2-E627K and PB2-D701N) that are known to facilitate viral replication in mammals. This study revealed that avian influenza cases in mammals were spatially and temporally connected with avian mass mortalities suggesting increased infection pressure from birds to mammals.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- Emergence of a human co-infected with seasonal influenza A (H3N2) virus and avian influenza A (H10N5) virus, China, December 2023 5 hours ago
- Notes from the Field: Health Monitoring, Testing, and Case Identification Among Persons Exposed to Influenza A(H5N1) - Michigan, 2024 5 hours ago
- Modeling transmission of avian influenza viruses at the human-animal-environment interface in Cuba 5 hours ago
- Quantitative Risk Assessment of Wind-Supported Transmission of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus to Dutch Poultry Farms via Fecal Particles from Infected Wild Birds in the Environment 5 hours ago
- High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) in Great Britain and Europe 5 hours ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]