# 1182
A new study by researchers at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, has been published early online by Emerging Infectious Diseases. Titled the Role of Terrestrial Wild Birds In the Ecology of Influenza A Virus (H5H1) , this 10 page PDF file is now available for download.
Yesterday, CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy) published a good overview of this study. Follow the link to read the entire article.
Study says H5N1 has varied effects in small land birds
Oct 18, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – A study on the effects of the H5N1 avian influenza virus on small land birds suggests it is often lethal in sparrows but has lesser effects on starlings and pigeons and does not readily spread to other birds of the same species.
However, the researchers say their findings also suggest that sparrows and starlings could potentially spread the virus to poultry and mammals.
The results of the study, conducted at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, were published early online by Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Scientists have fleshed out some H5N1 patterns in waterfowl species, which have been shown to shed the virus for prolonged periods and are thought to play some role—along with the poultry business—in the geographic spread among the world's poultry populations. However, less is known about small terrestrial birds, which also intermingle with waterfowl and poultry.
To gauge how the H5N1 virus behaves in small birds, the researchers inoculated sparrows, starlings, and pigeons with four different strains that were isolated from birds. Two of the strains had previously been shown to infect waterfowl in Thailand, and two were recently isolated during wild-bird surveillance in Hong Kong.
The sparrows and starlings used in the study were captured in the wild, while 6-week old Carneux pigeons were bought from supply houses. At the start of the study, the authors obtained cloacal swabs from the birds to rule out existing influenza A infections.
After the birds were inoculated with the H5N1 strains, researchers placed them in cages with uninfected birds of the same species for 14 days to gauge virus transmission. The ratio of infected to uninfected birds was 1:1 for sparrows and starlings and 2:3 for pigeons.
The birds were monitored each day for death and illness, and oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs were collected on days 2, 4, 6, 8, and 11 for sparrows and starlings and on days 3, 5, and 7 for pigeons. At the end of the 14-day period, the investigators collected serum samples from the inoculated and contact birds for hemagglutanin-inhibition testing.
