Introduction: Influenza A viruses have the potential to cause devastating illness in humans and domestic poultry. Wild birds are the natural reservoirs of Influenza A viruses and migratory birds are implicated in their global dissemination. High concentrations of this virus are excreted in the faeces of infected birds and faecal contamination of shared aquatic habitats can lead to indirect transmission among birds via the faecal-oral route. The role of migratory birds in the spread of avian influenza has led to large-scale surveillance efforts of circulating avian influenza viruses through direct sampling of live and dead wild birds. Environmental monitoring of bird habitats using molecular detection methods may provide additional information on the persistence of influenza virus at migratory stopover sites distributed across large spatial scales. Materials and methods: In the current study, faecal and water samples were collected at migratory stopover sites and evaluated for Influenza A by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Results and Discussion: This study found that Influenza A was detected at 53% of the evaluated stopover sites, and 7% and 4.8% of the faecal and water samples, respectively, tested positive for Influenza A virus. Conclusion: Environmental monitoring detected Influenza A at stopover sites used by migratory birds.
Studies of the basic immunology of poliomyelitis in Canadian Eskimos have been continued. The sera of 24 Eskimos living at Lake Harbour and of 99 at Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, have been tested for poliomyelitis antibody by means of the Lansing virus neutralization test. Poliomyelitis occurred in Lake Harbour in 1943 but has not been recorded in Pangnirtung. Eighteen of the 24 sera from Lake Harbour contained antibody, but only 10 from the 99 Pangnirtung residents. The positive sera from Pangnirtung were all in persons aged 18 and over. These results are compared with those previously reported by the authors with the sera of Eskimos at Chesterfield Inlet, and with those reported by Paul with the sera of North Alaskan Eskimos. The evidence suggests that poliomyelitis virus is world-wide in distribution.
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