Viral shedding of clade 2.3.4.4 H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza A viruses by American robins

Authors

J. Jeffrey Root, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Colorado State University
Nicole L. Marlenee, Colorado State University
Richard A. Bowen, Colorado State University

ORCID IDs

0000-0003-4177-1824

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Transbound Emerg Dis. 2018;65:1823–1827

Comments

This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

DOI: 10.1111/tbed.12959

Abstract

American robins (Turdus migratorius) are commonly associated with farmsteads in the United States and have shown previous evidence of exposure to an H5 avian influenza A virus (IAV) near a poultry production facility affected by a highly pathogenic (HP) H5 virus in Iowa, USA during 2015. We experimentally infected American robins with three clade 2.3.4.4 HP H5 viruses (H5N2 and H5N8). A total of 22/24 American robins shed virus, and all three strains were represented. The highest virus titres shed were 10^4.3, 10^4.3 and 10^4.8 PFU/ml, associated respectively with viruses isolated from poultry, a captive gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), and a Northern pintail (Anas acuta). Of those birds that shed, viral shedding was initiated 1 or 2 days post‐infection (DPI) and shedding ceased in all birds by 7 DPI. This study adds an additional synanthropic wildlife species to a growing list of animals that can successfully replicate and shed IAVs.