title: Pathogenicity and tissue tropism of currently circulating highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus (H5N1; clade 2.3.2) in tufted ducks (Aythya fuligula).
abstract: Reports describing the isolation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1) clade 2.3.2 in feces from apparently healthy wild birds and the seemingly lower pathogenicity of this clade compared to clade 2.2 in several experimentally infected species, caused concern that the new clade might be maintained in the wild bird population. To investigate whether the pathogenicity of a clade 2.3.2 virus was lower than that of clades previously occurring in free-living wild birds in Europe, four tufted ducks were inoculated with influenza A/duck/HongKong/1091/2011 (H5N1) clade 2.3.2 virus. The ducks were monitored and sampled for virus excretion daily during 4 days, followed by pathologic, immunohistochemical, and virological investigations. The virus produced severe disease as evidenced by clinical signs, presence of marked lesions and abundant viral antigen in several tissues, especially the central nervous system. The study shows that HPAI-H5N1 virus clade 2.3.2 is highly pathogenic for tufted ducks and thus, they are unlikely to maintain this clade in the free-living population or serve as long-distance vectors.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pathology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, SE750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Pathology and Wildlife Disease, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), 751 89 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: Caroline.Brojer@sva.se.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bröjer
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Amerongen
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van de Bildt
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Run
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Artemis Research Institute for One Health in Europe, Yalelaan 1, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osterhaus
authors.affiliation: Section of Pathology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7028, SE750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Pathology and Wildlife Disease, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), 751 89 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gavier-Widén
authors.affiliation: Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thijs
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuiken
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D001980:Bronchi / Q000821:virology; D004372:Ducks / Q000821:virology*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000821:virology; D010614:Pharynx; D010802:Phylogeny; D056189:Viral Tropism; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral
keywords: Avian; Aythya fuligula; Clade 2.3.2; H5N1; HPAI; Influenza; Pathology