July 23, 2007

Japanese study affirms blow flies can carry bird flu
 

A Japanese study has given further affirmation that blowflies may carry the bird flu virus.

K. Sawabe and colleagues at the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo reported that the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza A viruses were isolated from blow flies near infected poultry in Japan.

During the highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak in Tamba Town, Kyoto Prefecture in 2004, a total of 926 flies were collected from six sites within a radius of 2.3 km from the poultry farm.

The H5 influenza A virus genes were detected from the intestinal organs, crop, and gut of the two blow fly species, by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the matrix protein (M) and hemagglutinin (HA) genes.

The full-length sequences of the M, HA, and neuraminidase (NA) segments of virus isolates from embryonated chicken eggs was studied. Results showed the virus the blowfly was carrying was characterized as the H5N1 subtype influenza A virus and was 99.9% identical in all three RNA segments to a strain from chickens and crows during the outbreak of 2004.

Sawabe and colleagues published their study in American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.