2014.ISDS.Abstracts.Final.pdf


ISDS Annual Conference Proceedings 2014. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, 
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ISDS 2014 Conference Abstracts

Monitoring Emergent Avian Influenza Viruses Subtypes 
H5 and H7 in Wild Birds in Ukraine
Prof. Borys Stegniy1, Dr Denys Muzyka1, Dr Mary Pantin-Jackwood2, Dr Oleksandr Rula1, 
Anton Stegniy1, Anton Gerilovych*1, Dr Serhiy Vovk1 and Prof. Mykola Mandygra1

1NSC IECVM, Kharkiv, Ukraine; 2SEPRL, Athens, GA, USA

Objective
To carry out monitoring studies of circulation of the AIV subtypes 

H5 and H7 in wild waterfowl and shorebirds around the Azov-Black 
Sea in Ukraine

Introduction
To date, avian influenza virus (AIV) is an unpredictable pathogen 

affecting both animals, birds and people. The regular emergence of 
new strains and variants with different properties and pathogenicities 
requires additional monitoring and careful research of those viruses. 
It is known that wild birds— especially waterfowl and shorebirds— 
are the main and primary reservoir of AIV in nature which makes 
epizootological monitoring of populations of these birds necessary.

Methods
Sampling of wild birds was conducted in the Azov-Black Sea 

region of Ukraine. During the period from 2000 to 2011, biological 
material (cloacal, tracheal swabs, fecal samples) was collected 
from more than 6000 wild birds of 66 different species of orders 
Anseriformes and Charadriiformes. Virological investigations were 
carried out by standard methods recommended by the OIE (isolation 
in chicken embryos with identification by HI-test and PCR).

Results
Since year 2000, in the Azov-Black Sea region of Ukraine the 

monitoring of influenza viruses in wild waterfowl and shorebirds 
was being organized by scientists from the National Scientific Center 
Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine (NSC-
IECVM). Particular attention was paid to the circulation of AIV 
subtypes H5 and H7, which can potentially be devastating to poultry.

During the period of years 2005-2008 highly pathogenic avian 
influenza (HPAI) viruses subtype H5N1 were detected in wild birds 
in Ukraine. Five isolates of H5 subtype were isolated from great 
cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) in 2006 and 3 viruses from great 
grebes (Podiceps major) in 2008. Phylogenic analysis showed that 
these viruses originated from Asia, and Western Europe respectively.

During 2010-2012, 59 different subtypes of influenza viruses were 
isolated, including a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus 
subtype H5N2. Seven H7 subtype viruses with different neuraminidase 
enzymes (H7N3, H7N6, H7N7) were isolated, representing 11.86% of 
the total number of all AIV isolated from samples.

All viruses of subtypes H5 and H7 were isolated from the wild 
Mallards during their autumn migration and wintering in the Azov-
Black Sea region. These viruses did not cause disease in chickens 
after intranasal and intramuscular inoculation.

Conclusions
In summary, our results demonstrated the circulation of LPAI 

viruses subtype H5 and H7 in wild waterfowl populations in the 
Azov-Black Sea region. These findings support the need for ongoing 
monitoring of avian influenza for early prevention of HPAI viruses 
that may pose a threat to poultry.

Keywords
avian influenza virus; surveilance; wild birds

*Anton Gerilovych
E-mail: antger@rambler.ru    

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics * ISSN 1947-2579 * http://ojphi.org * 7(1):e161, 2015