wmartin

Quote:

Birds don't become sick when exposed to the H1N1 influenza strains that caused the 1918 and 2009 global flu pandemics, a finding that suggests birds played no role in the spread of the pandemic-causing viruses, according to a new study.

Researchers injected the 1918 and 2009 H1N1 flu virus strains into chickens. After 18 days, none of the birds had developed flu symptoms or showed any signs of tissue damage. The 1918 H1N1 virus also didn't cause disease in ducks, the study authors reported in the February issue of the Journal of General Virology.

http://www.businessweek.com/life ... althday/635113.html

lwingkay

But then why did so many chickens die of H1N1 when the bird flu struck us a few years ago? [Please see the postscript below for clarification] Have been wondering if the injections applied in the test performed this time have taken into consideration such factors as the change of season, the change in climatic conditions, the sanitation of the place where the test chickens were kept? In poultry farms, the hygienic condition may not be that good as the one in the laboratory and the poultry there may be more susceptible to disease.
Pete

Postscript:
The strain of bird flu that has infected people in Asia and the Middle East is actually the H5N1.

[ Last edited by lwingkay at 21/01/2010 00:18 ]

ajohn

I wasn't aware that there had been any suggestion that birds were involved with the spread of H1N1 (so-called 'swine flu'). Didn't the disease originate from the recombination of flu strains from pigs and humans - why should this infect birds?
The 1918 flu strain is still poorly understood in terms of origin, but again I was not aware of any suggestion that birds were involved with the spread.

The outbreaks in chickens (plus some wild birds and the bird market) in Hong Kong are H5N1. This is a completely different virus, and is the strain which caused some panic a few years ago.