SERO-SURVEILLANCE OF AVIAN INFLUENZA SUBTYPES H5, H7, AND H9 IN BACKYARD POULTRY

Hameed M., Sohail M., Hayat A., Khan I., Ur Rehman M., Ali Z., ...More

APPLIED ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, vol.23, no.2, pp.2735-2747, 2024 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

Abstract

Avian influenza viruses (Bird flu) cause sickness and mortality in backyard and commercial poultry. Poultry is one of the most successful segments of the livestock business, with a 700-billion-rupee investment. Pakistan is the world's 11th producer but since last few decades' avian influenza virus outbreaks have increased globally including Pakistan. The current study was conducted to determine Sero-surveillance of avian influenza subtypes H5, H7 and H9 in backyard poultry of Abbottabad region. Total 400 random samples were collected from Abbottabad, Havelian, Lora and Lower Tanawal for of 400 blood and tissue samples, 60.85% were found positive while 39.15% were negative. The positive cases for H5 remained 73.16%, H7: 9.39% and H9: 80.10% as confirmed by serological testing and RTPCR. The highest prevalence was observed in Golden Fayoumi breed of birds. The highest prevalence of H5 was in Abbottabad (9.25%) in Golden Fayoumi (15.32%). 20 weeks old birds were more affected by H5 (16.66%). H7 was at highest prevalence in Lora (27.27%) and lowest in Abbottabad (10.09%) compared to Havelian (22.85%) and Lower Tanawal (10.20%) respectively. More effected breed of H7 was Fancy (21.62%). The highest prevalence of H7 was observed in birds in age group of 20 to 60 weeks prevalent than Abbottabad. The highest prevalence age was 20 to 60 weeks for H9 (96.17%). Also, coinfection of H5 and H9 was reported during current study. Avian influenza can be controlled by proper cleanliness. The current study strongly suggested that continuous surveillance is needed to reduce AIVs