Isolation and identification of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 from emus from the Ein Gedi oasis by the Dead Sea.
An avian influenza virus (AIV), A/Emu/Israel/552/2010/(H5N1), was isolated from a dead emu that was found in the Ein Gedi oasis near the Dead Sea. The virus molecular characterization was performed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time RT-PCR using AIV subtype-specific primers. The virus was of high pathogenicity, according to its intravenous pathogenicity index of 2.85 and the nucleotide sequencing at the cleavage site of the hemagglutinin gene, GERRRKKR, which is typical for highly pathogenic chicken influenza A viruses.
Israel Veterinary Services, Southern Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory, Beer Tuvia, Israel.
Inbar
I
Amnon
Irina
I
Shkoda
Ekaterina
E
Lapin
Israel
I
Raibstein
Ezra
E
Rosenbluth
Sagit
S
Nagar
Shimon
S
Perk
Michel
M
Bellaiche
Irit
I
Davidson
D000818:Animals; D020312:Dromaiidae; D005260:Female; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000235:genetics*; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D006388:Hemagglutinins