title: H5N1 infection causes rapid mortality and high cytokine levels in chickens compared to ducks.
abstract: Infection with H5N1 influenza virus is often fatal to poultry with death occurring in hours rather than days. However, whilst chickens may be acutely susceptible, ducks appear to be asymptomatic to H5N1. The mechanisms of disease pathogenesis are not well understood and the variation between different species requires investigation to help explain these species differences. Here we investigated the expression of several key proinflammatory cytokines of chickens and ducks following infection with 2 highly pathogenic H5N1 (A/Muscovy duck/Vietnam/453/2004 (Vt453) and A/Duck/Indramayu/BBVW/109/2006 (Ind109)) and a low-pathogenic H5N3 influenza virus (A/Duck/Victoria/1462/2008 (Vc1462)). H5N1 viruses caused fatal infections in chickens as well as high viral loads and increased production of proinflammatory molecules when compared to ducks. Cytokines, including Interleukin 6 (IL6) and the acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A (SAA), were rapidly induced at 24h post infection with H5N1. In contrast, low induction of these cytokines appeared in ducks and only at later times during the infection period. These observations support that hypercytokinemia may contribute to pathogenesis in chickens, whilst the lower cytokine response in ducks may be a factor in their apparent resistance to disease and decreased mortality.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia; School of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burggraaf
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia. Electronic address: adam.karpala@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Karpala
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bingham
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lowther
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Selleck
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kimpton
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew G D
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bean
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D004372:Ducks; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000502:physiology*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000821:virology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6
keywords: Chicken; Cytokine storm; Duck; H5N1 avian influenza; IL6