Newswise — South Dakota State University will soon join the front lines in the battle of bird flu detection.
The university's Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory is making preparations to become a testing center for the highly virulent strain of avian influenza identified as H5N1.
According to Dr. Jane Christopher-Hennings, associate professor with Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ADRDL), the lab, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, will be one of several testing centers around the country. The testing procedure is being provided to SDSU by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, she said. SDSU should be able to start testing birds within the next few months.
The test uses PCR technology, which stands for polymerase-chain-reaction, Hennings said. It's a specific way to amplify, or multiply, a section of DNA or RNA from an infectious agent like influenza.
"The RNA from avian influenza virus is not infectious material, so that by itself doesn't harm anyone," she said. "It's not the actual virus; it's the genetic material in the virus that's being amplified in this test, so that the exact strain of influenza can be easily identified."
What's more, the test yields quick results.
"The test is beneficial in the sense that you can determine if the bird has flu almost immediately, within the day after we get the samples," Hennings said.
That early detection is key in containing the spread of the disease among birds and providing surveillance to determine what influenza strains are currently present in birds.
Dr. Tanya Graham, associate professor and diagnostic pathologist with ADRDL, said that once the disease is detected in a flock of domestic birds, the entire flock must be destroyed in order to contain the virus. That's why it's so important to diagnose the disease quickly.
According to Graham, this strain of bird flu is highly pathogenic to birds and is deadly for most. Wild ducks can be sub-clinical carriers, meaning they don't get sick from the virus and instead pass it on to other birds. She said ducks are most likely responsible for the large part of the migration across the world. Domestic chickens and turkeys are extremely susceptible and usually die fairly quickly from the disease, she said.
Graham said that when moving birds from country to country, they typically have to go into quarantine for 30 days before traveling on to their new home. The virus kills birds usually within seven days, so the disease isn't likely to escape a confined group, she said.
The problem lies more in the illegal transport of exotic birds.
"The illegal trade of pet birds is supposed to be $6 to $10 billion a year worldwide," Graham said. "It's the second biggest smuggling operation behind drugs, according to Interpol. Unfortunately, a lot of people who smuggle birds have no idea of the ramifications of what they're doing. It's a way to make a fast buck. They don't realize that they are potentially bringing in a bird that's sick."
Not only is the H5N1 bird flu economically devastating to poultry producers, in Asia it has had about a 50 percent mortality rate when humans become infected. While human-to-human transfer of the virus has not been confirmed, researchers believe that it's only a matter of time before the virus mutates and spreads from one person to the next, Graham said.
"It's important to make a distinction between the seasonal flu, the one we get vaccinated for every year, and the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu," Graham said, adding that a pandemic would be caused by a mutation in the bird flu and not the traditional seasonal flu that is seen every year.
A pandemic will occur if bird flu mutates and becomes easily transmissible between people—so far this type of mutation in the virus has not occurred, she said. The easiest way for the virus to mutate would be to infect a human already infected with the seasonal flu. Graham said that with both the bird flu virus and the seasonal flu virus in the human body the viruses could swap genetic information. In essence, the seasonal flu could pass along the part of itself that makes it so transferable between humans, then the deadly bird flu virus would be readily transmittable between humans as well.
It's because of this possible genetic transfer between the two viruses that Graham stresses the importance of getting a flu shot.
"The flu shot that you get from your doctor will not protect you from bird flu," she said. "But if everybody in the country were vaccinated for the seasonal flu, then we as a population are less likely to serve as a mixing vessel for those two viruses to swap genes."
The H5N1 strain has not yet come to the United States, however Graham said because all flu viruses mutate so easily, it's reasonable to say that it could be here at any time.
"If we do have a pandemic, it would move through communities similar to the way the seasonal flu now moves through a community," Graham said. "It's not going to be a case of everyone in the United States getting sick in one week. There will be pockets of infection in different communities."
Graham emphasizes the importance of washing hands, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs and wearing gloves to dress bird carcasses as ways to help protect oneself from diseases such as bird flu.
Currently, the United States is working on a vaccine and has outlined a response plan in case of a pandemic. The plan, in part, includes stockpiling vaccines and anti-viral medications, and rapidly reporting and containing outbreaks.
However, until the virus mutates and becomes readily transferable between humans and the exact strain of the virus is known, it's impossible to manufacture a vaccine in large quantities, Graham said.
While the statistics are grim and the outlook of a national pandemic is looming, by increasing surveillance and testing of birds, it helps the world monitor the virus and watch what course it's taking, possibly slowing or containing any outbreaks, Graham said.
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