Avian influenza virus: Prevalence infection and therapy

Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal, 2014

The world is now under human pandemic threat by avian influenza viruses. As the human, animal and the environment interact closely from the dawn of the civilization, human health is tremendously influenced by animal health and their health issues. In last few centuries the world has suffered a number of influenza pandemics killing millions of people such as Spanish Flu (1918), Asiatic or Russian Flu (1889-1890), Asian Flu (1957-1958) etc. The exceptional capability of genetic mutation of the influenza viruses offered threats to the whole world time to time. Like all other countries Bangladesh also not away from the heat of the situation. Human cases of avian influenza subtype H1N1, H3, H5N1, and H9N2 have already been reported from Bangladesh. This article reviews the information available on pandemic potential of avian influenza viruses. The article also sheds light on different avian influenza viruses along with some emphasis on clinical and preventive aspects of the avian influen...

Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 2005

Influenza A (H5N1) virus infects a variety of animals, birds and humans. Present ongoing epidemic of this deadly virus in poultry livestock and humans has had major economic and health repercussions. It causes a wide spectrum of clinical features in human beings ranging from mild respiratory tract infection to a fatal pneumonia leading to multi organ system failure. Diagnosis is mainly clinical, aided by lab features like lymphopaenia and non-specific chest X-ray findings. Diagnostic tests are being evolved for rapid and specific diagnosis. Management is mainly symptomatic. Newer and effective antivirals, i.e. amantadine, zanamivir etc are also being tried.

Future microbiology, 2013

gle-stranded negative-sense RNA [1]. There are four main influenza virus species, namely A, B, C and D. Type A viruses are known to infect a wide range of birds and mammals while the other species have more constrained host ranges. Influenza A viruses (IAV), including all avian influenza viruses, possess eight separate genomic segments

Microbes and infectious diseases, 2023

The emergence and re-emergence of the avian influenza virus in humans, particularly the A (H5) sub-types, have persistently presented a substantial danger to human well-being. Interestingly, the avian influenza virus has remained important despite various studies on the mechanism of inter-species transmission. In part, this is due to the insufficient understanding of the virus’ pathogenesis, the diagnostic challenges, and the limited knowledge about the virus’ genetic makeup, which enables it to keep evolving. Given the devastating nature of this disease and the possibility of the virus triggering a pandemic, this review aims to evaluate the current strains of Type A (H5) avian influenza virus, to better understand the mechanism of its interactions with humans, and to address critical questions related to its epidemiology. We further explored the factors contributing to the severity of the infection, which may improve the diagnosis and therapeutic options employed in the treatment of this disease.

British journal of nursing, 2005

Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2008

Journal of Food, …, 2009

The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of Asian lineage and the subsequent spillover to other part of the globe and on going spread of Eurasian-Africa H5N1 epidemic into domestic, wild birds and human have generated unprecedented attention in recent times and threat of potential pandemic via the avian-human link. Historically, from 1878 through 1955, fowl plaque was described as a high mortality disease of poultry in many countries throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa and the etiology was proved to be a filterable virus. In the 1930s through the 1950s, fowl plaque disappeared as an endemic disease in most part of the world. In 1949, the first report of a low virulent disease in chickens caused by LPAI virus was reported. In 1955, the etiological of fowl plaque was determined to be influenza A virus, which subsequently was identified as the H7 subtype. In 1959, a "fowl plaque-like" outbreak was described in chickens, which was the first report of fowl plaque caused by a non-H7 AI virus, i.e. first fowl plaque outbreak from H5 subtype of AI virus. In 1961 the first wild birds infection and deaths were reported in common terns of South Africa. In 1966 and 1971, the first H5 and H7 LPAI viruses, respectively were identified; prior to this period, only HPAI viruses had H5 and H7 subtypes. In 1970, the AGID serological test was introduced, which allowed easy and rapid identification of AI virus-infected poultry flocks. In 1972, there was the first isolation of LPAI viruses in asymptomatic wild birds: ducks in the United State and shorebirds in Australia. In 1981, the term "highly pathogenic avian influenza" was accepted as standard nomenclature for fowl plaque and related synonyms. In 1983, LPAI virus was observed mutating to HPAI virus during LPAI field outbreak, and specific genomic changes were identified in the proteolytic cleavage site of the hemagglutinin responsible for the virulence change. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, molecular criteria were added to the definition for classifying an AI virus as HPAI. In 2002, there were the first reported infections and deaths in a wide variety of wild bird species from AI virus H5N1 HPAI virus. The primary goal of this review is to highlight the global situation of HPAI and provide baseline information to show the potential pandemic nature of the virus, so that control and prevention strategies can be improved.