Molecular epidemiology of avian influenza virus and incidence of H5 and H9 virus subtypes among poultry in Egypt in 2009-2011

Abstract

Egypt has experienced outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) since 2006. A total of 3583 cloacal swabs were collected from chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys from commercial farms, backyards and local bird markets in Qena and Luxor governorates in South Egypt during 2009-2011. These samples were examined for the presence of AI virus (AIV) and positive samples were further subtyped for the H5 and H9 by real time RT-PCR. In this way, 202 (5.64%) samples were found to be AIV-positive of which 186 (92.08%) and 7 (3.46%) belonged to H5 and H9 subtypes, respectively. Higher infection rates were observed in backyard birds and birds from local bird markets in comparison to birds from commercial farms. In conclusion, the predominance of H5 infection indicates a need for continuous monitoring of AIV among avian species and the awareness against public health risk.