Identification and characterisation of an H7N3 influenza A virus from an outbreak of virulent avian influenza in Victoria

• Published in: Australian veterinary journal Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 289 - 292
• Main Authors: Selleck, P.W, Gleeson, L.J, Hooper, P.T, Westbury, H.A, Hansson, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-1997
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; amino acid sequences; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - analysis; Antibodies, Viral - immunology; Base Sequence; broiler chickens; characterization; Chickens; Cloaca - pathology; Cloaca - virology; disease diagnosis; Disease Outbreaks - veterinary; DNA, Viral - analysis; DNA, Viral - chemistry; DNA, Viral - genetics; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - veterinary; experimental infection; Hemagglutinins - genetics; identification; Influenza A virus; Influenza A virus - classification; Influenza A virus - genetics; Influenza A virus - isolation & purification; Influenza in Birds - diagnosis; Influenza in Birds - epidemiology; Influenza in Birds - pathology; molecular sequence data; nucleotide sequences; outbreaks; poultry diseases; Poultry Diseases - diagnosis; Poultry Diseases - epidemiology; Poultry Diseases - pathology; rapid methods; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; Victoria - epidemiology; virulence; Victoria (Australia); Victoria
• ISSN: 0005-0423; 1751-0813
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb10099.x

Over a 3-day period, late in July 1992, increasing number of deaths were observed in one shed of 4300 24-week-old broiler breeder chickens on a farm near Bendigo, Victoria. Live birds were submitted to the Victorian Institute of Animal Science on 29 July for necropsy, routine virological and bacteriological examinations, and confirmation that the deaths were due to fowl cholera. A provisional diagnosis of virulent avian influenza was made when Pasteurella spp were not isolated overnight and the number of deaths continued to increase despite the commencement of antibiotic therapy. This paper describes the laboratory confirma-tion of the diagnosis of avian influenza and the biological and molecular characterisation of the causative virus.