Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 1/4/18


A research team at Iowa State University said it has found no evidence that the 2015 avian influenza (AI) outbreak was spread in part due to small animals such as rodents and wild songbirds.

The team captured and tested about 450 small wild birds and rodents for the presence of Type A influenza viruses, which can cause AI in birds. These viruses occur naturally in populations of waterfowl and shorebirds and have been suspected of serving as bridge hosts in AI outbreaks in domesticated animals like chickens raised for human consumption.

The project determined that the sample animals did not have any signs of Type A influenza based on genetic tests involving a search for antibodies against the viruses.

The spread of AI three years ago resulted in the culling of more than 30 million chickens in Iowa alone, a state that suffered losses of at least $1.2 billion in the wake of the epidemic.

The study was led by Jim Adelman, an assistant professor in natural resource ecology and management at Iowa State, and Kyoung-Jin Yoon, professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine. The researchers published their results last month in the biological, medical and environmental sciences journal PeerJ.

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