Title
Surveillance gaps and biodiversity of influenza a subtypes in wild birds
Author(s)
Olson, Sarah H.; Gilbert, Martin; Parmley, Janet; Soos, Catherine; Latorre-Margalef, Neus; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Leighton, Frederick; Munster, Vincent; Joly, Damien
Published
2013
Abstract
Wild aquatic birds are recognized as the natural reservoir of avian influenza A viruses (AIV), but across high and low pathogenic avian influenza strains, scientists have yet to rigorously identify all competent hosts and subtypes. In the years that followed the emergence of the highly pathogenic Asian H5N1 strain, surveillance of wild birds for all subtypes was unprecedented. However, over time, priorities have shifted with surveillance efforts increasingly focused on strains that threaten the poultry industry. Our examination of 12,429 GenBank records provided insight into patterns of global AIV subtype diversity as well as striking, new testable hypotheses on potential novel avian host species and drivers of AIV subtype richness. We conducted an extensive literature review and communicated directly with scientists to accumulate 49 study locations and over 250,000 birds sampled. We built regional and global subtype sample-based accumulation curves to better estimate sample size targets that capture a specific percentage of virus subtype diversity. Our study identifies surveillance steps needed to develop a more balanced approach that can explore the influence of host and virus subtype biodiversity on emergence and transmission, and a targeted sampling scheme to detect 75% percent of global and regional circulating virus subtypes.
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PUB27091