Chicken Flu Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chicken Flu, including details on avian influenza, pandemic, symptoms, vaccines.

Livestock and Global Change Special Feature: Current drivers and future directions of global livestock disease dynamics.

Perry BD, Grace D, Sones K

Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, PO Box 437, Gilgil 20116, Kenya.

We review the global dynamics of livestock disease over the last two decades. Our imperfect ability to detect and report disease hinders assessment of trends, but we suggest that, although endemic diseases continue their historic decline in wealthy countries, poor countries experience static or deteriorating animal health and epidemic diseases show both regression and expansion. At a mesolevel, disease is changing in terms of space and host, which is illustrated by bluetongue, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus, and it is also emerging, as illustrated by highly pathogenic avian influenza and others. Major proximate drivers of change in disease dynamics include ecosystem change, ecosystem incursion, and movements of people and animals; underlying these are demographic change and an increasing demand for livestock products. We identify three trajectories of global disease dynamics: (i) the worried well in developed countries (demanding less risk while broadening the circle of moral concern), (ii) the intensifying and market-orientated systems of many developing countries, where highly complex disease patterns create hot spots for disease shifts, and (iii) the neglected cold spots in poor countries, where rapid change in disease dynamics is less likely but smallholders and pastoralists continue to struggle with largely preventable and curable livestock diseases.

Published 17 May 2011 in Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Chicken Flu published 17 May 2011:

CL-385319 inhibits H5N1 avian influenza A virus infection by blocking viral entry.   Eur J Pharmacol, 660(2): 460-7.

CL-385319, an N-substituted piperidine, is effective in inhibiting infection of H1-, H2-, and to a lesser extent, H3-typed influenza A viruses by interfering with the fusogenic function of the viral hemagglutinin. Here we show that CL-385319 is effective in inhibiting infection of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza A virus in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells with an IC(50) of 27.03±2.54μM. This compound with low cytotoxicity (CC(50)=1.48±0.01mM) could also inhibit entry of pseudoviruses ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Flu published 16 May 2011:

The Infection of Chicken Tracheal Epithelial Cells with a H6N1 Avian Influenza Virus.   PLoS One, 6(5): e18894.

Sialic acids (SAs) linked to galactose (Gal) in α2,3- and α2,6-configurations are the receptors for avian and human influenza viruses, respectively. We demonstrate that chicken tracheal ciliated cells express α2,3-linked SA, while goblet cells mainly express α2,6-linked SA. In addition, the plant lectin MAL-II, but not MAA/MAL-I, is bound to the surface of goblet cells, suggesting that SA2,3-linked oligosaccharides with Galβ1-3GalNAc subterminal residues are specifically present on the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Transmission between chickens of an H7N1 Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus isolated during the epidemic of 1999 in Italy.   Vet Microbiol.

The transmissibility of an H7N1 Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) virus isolated from a turkey flock during the large epidemic in Italy in 1999, was experimentally studied in chickens. Four group transmission experiments were performed. Infection and transmission were monitored by means of virus isolation on swab samples and antibody detection in serum samples. From the results of these groups, we estimated the mean infectious period at 7.7 (6.7-8.7) days, the transmission rate parameter at ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Development and evaluation of an M2-293FT cell-based flow cytometric assay for quantification of antibody response to native form of matrix protein 2 of influenza A viruses.   J Immunol Methods.

Matrix protein 2 (M2) of influenza A viruses is an attractive target for the development of broadly cross-protective influenza vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. The available evidence suggests that antibodies reactive to the natural tetrameric form of M2 proteins, rather than those to synthetic peptides of M2 ectodomain (M2e), best correlate with M2-mediated immune protection. However, the current ability to quantify strain-specific and/or subtype-cross-reactive M2 antibodies against the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Effect of oral administration of ginseng stem-and-leaf saponins (GSLS) on the immune responses to Newcastle disease vaccine in chickens.   Vaccine.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of oral administration of ginseng stem-and-leaf saponin (GSLS) on immune responses in chickens vaccinated with live Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines. In experiment 1, chickens were orally administered GSLS (2.5, 5, 10, and 20mg/kg) in drinking water for 3 days, and then intranasally vaccinated with ND vaccine. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test showed that the optimal dose of GSLS for enhancing HI titers was 5mg/kg. In experiment 2, chickens were ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Fine epitope mapping of monoclonal antibodies against hemagglutinin of a highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus using yeast surface display.   Biochem Biophys Res Commun.

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses pose a debilitating pandemic threat. Thus, understanding mechanisms of antibody-mediated viral inhibition and neutralization escape is critical. Here, a robust yeast display system for fine epitope mapping of viral surface hemagglutinin (HA)-specific antibodies is demonstrated. The full-length H5 subtype HA (HA0) was expressed on the yeast surface in a correctly folded conformation, determined by binding of a panel of extensively characterized ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Immunoadjuvant efficacy of plasmids with multiple copies of a CpG motif coadministrated with avian influenza vaccine in chickens.   Vaccine.

Unmethylated CpG motifs are capable of evoking a range of immunostimulatory effects in vertebrates and have tremendous potential to be used as therapeutic agents and adjuvants. This particular type of CpG motif has been demonstrated to be an excellent immune adjuvant mediated by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in various mammalian vaccines; however, only a few studies confirm its efficacy in avian vaccines. In the present study, immunomodulatory activities of plasmids with various copy numbers of a ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Positive selection on hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes of H1N1 influenza viruses.   Virol J, 8: 183.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

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