Files
Abstract
Maintaining poultry free from Avian Influenza is essential to continued trade betweencountries. Although there are mechanisms to control influenza such as vaccination, it isimportant to understand the role of contaminated feces and litter in LPAI virus transmission. Theinfectivity of the viruses A/Ck/CA/431/00(H6N2), A/Mallard/MN/355779/00(H5N2),A/turkey/Ohio/313053/04(H3N2) in contact with poultry litter and manure were evaluated. Theviruses retained infectivity in manure and litter for 24hrs, and infectivity was directly related tothe rate of shedding, moisture content and environmental temperature. Control of influenza canbe done by vaccination and monitoring with rapid serological methods for differentiatinginfected from vaccinated animals. The ability of the N1-ELISA and N2-ELISA to discriminatevaccinated from subsequently challenged turkeys was tested. The N1-ELISA and N2-ELISAdetected 50% and 33 % respectively, of vaccinated and infected turkeys. Overall N1-ELISA andN2-ELISA were effective and rapid assays to identify exposure to the challenge virus during aDIVA vaccination strategy.