Epidemiology and molecular characterization of avian influenza virus in backyard poultry of Chattogram, Bangladesh

Infect Genet Evol. 2022 Oct 8:105377. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2022.105377. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDucks, the natural reservoir of avian influenza virus (AIV), act as reassortment vessels for HPAI and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus for domestic and wild bird species. In Bangladesh, earlier research was mainly focused on AIV in commercial poultry and live bird markets, where there is scanty literature reported on AIV in apparently healthy backyard poultry at the household level. The present cross-sectional study was carried out to reveal the genomic epidemiology of AIV of backyard poultry in coastal (Anowara) and plain land (Rangunia) areas of Bangladesh. We randomly selected a total of 292 households' poultry (having both chicken and duck) for sampling. We administered structured pre-tested questionnaires to farmers through direct interviews. We tested cloacal samples from birds for the matrix gene (M gene) followed by H5 and H9 subtypes using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). All AIV-positive samples were subjected to four-gene segment sequencing (M, PB1, HA, and NA gene). We found that the prevalence of AIV RNA at the household level was 6.2% (n = 18; N = 292), whereas duck and chicken prevalence was 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively. Prevalence varied with season, ranging from 3.1% in the summer to 8.2% in the winter. The prevalence of subtypes H5 and H9 in backyard poultry was 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively. The phylogenetic anal...
Source: Infection, Genetics and Evolution - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Source Type: research