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Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony

High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) profoundly impacted several seabird populations during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Infection spread rapidly across colonies, causing unprecedented mortality. At Foula, Shetland, 1500 breeding adult great skuas Stercorarius skua, totalling about two tonnes...

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Autores principales: Furness, Robert W., Gear, Sheila C., Camphuysen, Kees C. J., Tyler, Glen, de Silva, Dilhani, Warren, Caroline J., James, Joe, Reid, Scott M., Banyard, Ashley C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10144497/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37111470
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040584
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author Furness, Robert W.
Gear, Sheila C.
Camphuysen, Kees C. J.
Tyler, Glen
de Silva, Dilhani
Warren, Caroline J.
James, Joe
Reid, Scott M.
Banyard, Ashley C.
author_facet Furness, Robert W.
Gear, Sheila C.
Camphuysen, Kees C. J.
Tyler, Glen
de Silva, Dilhani
Warren, Caroline J.
James, Joe
Reid, Scott M.
Banyard, Ashley C.
author_sort Furness, Robert W.
collection PubMed
description High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) profoundly impacted several seabird populations during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Infection spread rapidly across colonies, causing unprecedented mortality. At Foula, Shetland, 1500 breeding adult great skuas Stercorarius skua, totalling about two tonnes of decomposing virus-laden material, died at the colony in May−July 2022. Carcasses were left where they died as Government policy was not to remove dead birds. The factors influencing risk of further spread of infection are uncertain, but evidence suggests that HPAI can persist in water for many months in cool conditions and may be a major transmission factor for birds living in wetlands. We investigated risk of further spread of infection from water samples collected from under 45 decomposing carcasses and in three freshwater lochs/streams by sampling water in October 2022, by which time the great skua carcasses had rotted to bones, skin, and feathers. No viral genetic material was detected four months after the mortality, suggesting a low risk of seabird infection from the local environment when the seabirds would return the next breeding season. These findings, although based on a relatively small number of water samples, suggest that the high rainfall typical at Shetland probably washed away the virus from the decomposing carcasses. However, limitations to our study need to be taken on board in the design of environmental monitoring at seabird colonies during and immediately after future outbreaks of HPAI.
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spelling pubmed-101444972023-04-29 Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony Furness, Robert W. Gear, Sheila C. Camphuysen, Kees C. J. Tyler, Glen de Silva, Dilhani Warren, Caroline J. James, Joe Reid, Scott M. Banyard, Ashley C. Pathogens Article High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) profoundly impacted several seabird populations during the summers of 2021 and 2022. Infection spread rapidly across colonies, causing unprecedented mortality. At Foula, Shetland, 1500 breeding adult great skuas Stercorarius skua, totalling about two tonnes of decomposing virus-laden material, died at the colony in May−July 2022. Carcasses were left where they died as Government policy was not to remove dead birds. The factors influencing risk of further spread of infection are uncertain, but evidence suggests that HPAI can persist in water for many months in cool conditions and may be a major transmission factor for birds living in wetlands. We investigated risk of further spread of infection from water samples collected from under 45 decomposing carcasses and in three freshwater lochs/streams by sampling water in October 2022, by which time the great skua carcasses had rotted to bones, skin, and feathers. No viral genetic material was detected four months after the mortality, suggesting a low risk of seabird infection from the local environment when the seabirds would return the next breeding season. These findings, although based on a relatively small number of water samples, suggest that the high rainfall typical at Shetland probably washed away the virus from the decomposing carcasses. However, limitations to our study need to be taken on board in the design of environmental monitoring at seabird colonies during and immediately after future outbreaks of HPAI. MDPI 2023-04-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10144497/ /pubmed/37111470 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040584 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Furness, Robert W.
Gear, Sheila C.
Camphuysen, Kees C. J.
Tyler, Glen
de Silva, Dilhani
Warren, Caroline J.
James, Joe
Reid, Scott M.
Banyard, Ashley C.
Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title_full Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title_fullStr Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title_short Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony
title_sort environmental samples test negative for avian influenza virus h5n1 four months after mass mortality at a seabird colony
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10144497/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37111470
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040584
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