title: Serological evidence of H9N2 avian influenza virus exposure among poultry workers from Fars province of Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since the 1990s, influenza A viruses of the H9N2 subtype have been causing infections in the poultry population around the globe. This influenza subtype is widely circulating in poultry and human cases of AI H9N2 have been sporadically reported in countries where this virus is endemic in domestic birds. The wide circulation of H9N2 viruses throughout Europe and Asia along with their ability to cause direct infection in mammals and humans, raises public health concerns. H9N2 AI was reported for the first time in Iran in 1998 and at present it is endemic in poultry. This study was carried out to evaluate the exposure to H9N2 AI viruses among poultry workers from the Fars province.
  
  
  METHODS
  100 poultry workers and 100 healthy individuals with no professional exposure to poultry took part in this study. Serum samples were tested for antibodies against two distinct H9N2 avian influenza viruses, which showed different phylogenetic clustering and important molecular differences, such as at the amino acid (aa) position 226 (Q/L) (H3 numbering), using haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and microneutralization (MN) assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that 17 % of the poultry workers were positive for the A/chicken/Iran/10VIR/854-5/2008 virus in MN test and 12 % in HI test using the titer ≥40 as positive cut-off value. Only 2 % of the poultry workers were positive for the A/chicken/Iran/12VIR/9630/1998 virus. Seroprevalence of non exposed individuals for both H9N2 strains was below 3 % by both tests. Statistical analyses models showed that exposure to poultry significantly increases the risk of infection with H9N2 virus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results have demonstrated that exposure to avian H9N2 viruses had occurred among poultry workers in the Fars province of Iran. Continuous surveillance programmes should be implemented to monitor the presence of avian influenza infections in humans and to evaluate their potential threat to poultry workers and public health.
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, OIE collaborating Center for Diseases at the Human-Animal Interface, Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, PD, 35020, Italy. Ali.h.biotec@gmail.com.|Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD, Italy. Ali.h.biotec@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heidari
authors.affiliation: Food safety department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, PD, 35020, Italy. mmancin@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancin
authors.affiliation: Avian Diseases Research Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. nili@shirazu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nili
authors.affiliation: Avian Diseases Research Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. hpourghanbari@ardakan.ac.ir.|School of Veterinary Medicine, Ardakan University, Yazd, Iran. hpourghanbari@ardakan.ac.ir.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Pourghanbari
authors.affiliation: Health Policy Research Center of Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran. lankaran@sums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Lankarani
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, OIE collaborating Center for Diseases at the Human-Animal Interface, Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, PD, 35020, Italy. sleardini@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leardini
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, OIE collaborating Center for Diseases at the Human-Animal Interface, Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, PD, 35020, Italy. gcattoli@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cattoli
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, OIE/FAO and National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza, OIE collaborating Center for Diseases at the Human-Animal Interface, Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, PD, 35020, Italy. imonne@izsvenezie.it.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Monne
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD, Italy. alessandra.piccirillo@unipd.it.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piccirillo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D000067565:Farmers; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D053127:Influenza A Virus, H9N2 Subtype / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010802:Phylogeny; D011200:Poultry; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus
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