HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Campitelli, L. Articles by Donatelli, I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Campitelli, L. Articles by Donatelli, I. Agricola Articles by Campitelli, L. Articles by Donatelli, I.

H3N2 influenza viruses from domestic chickens in Italy: an increasing role for chickens in the ecology of influenza?

Department of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy¹
Avian Influenza Reference Centre, University ‘Federico II’, 80014 Naples, Italy²
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale, 43100 Parma, Italy³
Istituto Nazionale della Fauna Selvatica, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy⁴
Department of Virology and Molecular Biology, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105-2794, USA⁵

Author for correspondence: Laura Campitelli. Fax +39 06 49 902 082. e-mail campitel{at}iss.it

In Italy, multiple H3N2 influenza viruses were isolated from chickens with mild respiratory disease and were shown to replicate in the respiratory tracts of experimentally infected chickens; this finding is the first to show that H3N2 influenza viruses can replicate and cause disease in chickens. H3N2 influenza viruses in pigs on nearby farms seemed a likely source of the virus; however, antigenic and molecular analyses revealed that the gene segments of the viruses in chickens were mainly of Eurasian avian origin and were distinguishable from those isolated from pigs and wild aquatic birds in Italy. Thus, several different H3 influenza viruses were circulating in Italy, but we failed to identify the source of the chicken H3N2 influenza viruses that have disappeared subsequently from Italian poultry. Until recently, the transmission of influenza viruses (other than the H5 and H7 subtypes) from their reservoir in aquatic birds to chickens was rarely detected and highly pathogenic and non-pathogenic viruses were considered to be restricted to poultry species. However, the recent reports of the transmission of H9N2 and H5N1 influenza viruses to chickens in Hong Kong and, subsequently, to humans and our findings of the transmission of H3N2 influenza viruses to domestic chickens in Italy suggest an increased role for chickens as an intermediate host in the ecology of influenza.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M.-S. Song, T.-K. Oh, H. J. Moon, D.-W. Yoo, E. H. Lee, J.-S. Lee, C.-J. Kim, G.-J. Yoo, H. Kim, and Y.-K. Choi Ecology of H3 avian influenza viruses in Korea and assessment of their pathogenic potentials J. Gen. Virol., April 1, 2008; 89(4): 949 - 957. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Campitelli, A. Di Martino, D. Spagnolo, G. J. D. Smith, L. Di Trani, M. Facchini, M. A. De Marco, E. Foni, C. Chiapponi, A. M. Martin, et al. Molecular analysis of avian H7 influenza viruses circulating in Eurasia in 1999-2005: detection of multiple reassortant virus genotypes J. Gen. Virol., January 1, 2008; 89(1): 48 - 59. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Das and D. L. Suarez Development and bench validation of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction protocols for rapid detection of the subtypes H6, H9, and H11 of avian influenza viruses in experimental samples J Vet Diagn Invest, November 1, 2007; 19(6): 625 - 634. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. R. Cockerill III and T. F. Smith Response of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory to Emerging (New) and Reemerging Infectious Diseases J. Clin. Microbiol., June 1, 2004; 42(6): 2359 - 2365. [Full Text] [PDF]