title: Inactivation of avian influenza viruses by chemical agents and physical conditions: a review.
abstract: The recent outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) worldwide have highlighted the difficulties in controlling this disease both in developed and in developing countries. Biosecurity is considered the most important tool to prevent and control AI. In certain areas of the world, AI has become endemic and the recent outbreaks in Europe and Africa show that the epidemiological situation is evolving in an unprecedented way. The consequences of this situation are economic losses to the poultry industry, food security issues in developing countries and a serious threat to human health, due to the direct consequences of AI infection in humans, and more alarmingly due to the risk of the generation of a new pandemic virus from the animal reservoir. In this paper, the physical and chemical methods of inactivating AI viruses are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the practicalities of using such methods in the poultry industry.
authors.affiliation: OIE, FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Benedictis
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Beato
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capua
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001717:Birds; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011200:Poultry; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D004202:Disinfectants