Mongolia combines a near absence of domestic poultry, with an abundance of migratory waterbirds, to create an ideal location to study the epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) in a purely wild bird system. Here we present the findings of active and passive surveillance for HPAIV subtype H5N1 in Mongolia from 2005–2011, together with the results of five outbreak investigations. In total eight HPAIV outbreaks were confirmed in Mongolia during this period. Of these, one was detected during active surveillance employed by this project, three by active surveillance performed by Mongolian government agencies, and four through passive surveillance. A further three outbreaks were recorded in the neighbouring Tyva Republic of Russia on a lake that bisects the international border. No HPAIV was isolated (cultured) from 7,855 environmental fecal samples (primarily from ducks), or from 2,765 live, clinically healthy birds captured during active surveillance (primarily shelducks, geese and swans), while four HPAIVs were isolated from 141 clinically ill or dead birds located through active surveillance. Two low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIV) were cultured from ill or dead birds during active surveillance, while environmental feces and live healthy birds yielded 56 and 1 LPAIV respectively. All Mongolian outbreaks occurred in 2005 and 2006 (clade 2.2), or 2009 and 2010 (clade 2.3.2.1); all years in which spring HPAIV outbreaks were reported in Tibet and/or Qinghai provinces in China. The occurrence of outbreaks in areas deficient in domestic poultry is strong evidence that wild birds can carry HPAIV over at least moderate distances. However, failure to detect further outbreaks of clade 2.2 after June 2006, and clade 2.3.2.1 after June 2010 suggests that wild birds migrating to and from Mongolia may not be competent as indefinite reservoirs of HPAIV, or that HPAIV did not reach susceptible populations during our study.

Bactrian camel milk and colostrum are commonly used as foods in Mongolia, whose people believe that these products promote human health. It has been hypothesized that milk oligosaccharides are biologically significant components of human milk, acting as receptor analogs that inhibit the attachment of pathogenic microorganisms to the colonic mucosa, and as prebiotics, which stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria within the infant colon. To evaluate their biological significance, we studied the oligosaccharides present in samples of Bactrian camel milk and colostrum. Using (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we identified and characterized the following oligosaccharides of camel colostrum: Gal(β1-4)[Fuc(α1-3)]Glc (3-fucosyllactose), Gal(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (3'-galactosyllactose), Gal(β1-6)Gal(β1-4)Glc (6'-galactosyllactose), Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (3'-sialyllactose), Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)Glc (6'-sialyllactose), Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (sialyl-3'-galactosyllactose), Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-3)Gal(β1-4)Glc (sialyllacto-N-tetraose c), Neu5Ac(α2-3)Gal(β1-3)[Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-6)]Gal(β1-4)Glc (sialyllacto-N-novopentaose a), Gal(β1-3)[Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-6)]Gal(β1-4)Glc (sialyllacto-N-novopentaose b); and Neu5Ac(α2-6)Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-3)[Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-6)]Gal(β1-4)Glc (monosialyllacto-N-neohexaose). The oligosaccharides in the mature camel milk were characterized as 3'-galactosyllactose, Gal(β1-3)[Gal(β1-4)GlcNAc(β1-6)]Gal(β1-4)Glc (lacto-N-novopentaose I), and 3'-sialyllactose.

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A bovine lipocalin, previously identified as a putative odorant-binding protein in bovine colostrum (bcOBP), was cloned and expressed, and its monoclonal antibody was established. bcOBP was constantly secreted into milk on day of parturition until at least 10 d postpartum at a concentration of 181±39 µg/L. Besides milk, bcOBP occurred in the nasal mucus, saliva, amniotic fluid, vaginal discharge, and blood plasma. Despite its low concentration, the distribution pattern and the finding that bcOBP harbored a characteristic sequence motif, CxxxC, which is conserved among insect and mammal pheromone binding proteins, suggest that bcOBP functions as a pheromone carrier. The presence of bcOBP in the plasma at varied concentrations depending on the lactation period does not exclude the possibility that bcOBP is secreted into milk from the blood. Cross-reactivity of the monoclonal antibody indicated presence of proteins homologous to bcOBP in the colostrum of farm animals of Cetartiodactyla.

Mammalian milk/colostrum usually contains milk oligosaccharides along with the predominant lactose. Although milk oligosaccharides of a variety of Bovidae species including cow, sheep and goat have been characterized, those of the addax, an Antelopinae species of the Bovidae, have not as yet been clarified. In this study, several sialyl oligosaccharides were purified from a sample of addax colostrum and characterized as follows: Neu5Ac(a2-8)Neu5Ac(a2-3)Gal(b1-4)Glc, Neu5Gc(a2-8)Neu5Gc(a2-3)Gal(b1-4)Glc, Neu5Ac(a2-3)Gal(b1-4)Glc, Neu5Ac(a2-6)Gal(b1-4)GlcNAc, Neu5Gc (a2-3)Gal(b1-4)Glc, Neu5Gc(a2-6)Gal(b1-4)Glc, Neu5Gc(a2-6)Gal(b1-4)GlcNAc. In addition, an oligosaccharide nucleotide Neu5Gc(a2-6)Gal(b1-4)GlcNAca1-UDP was characterized. Molecular species of a variety of sialyl oligosaccharides found in milk and colostrum of these Bovidae were compared.Key words: addax colostrum, Bovidae milk oligosaccharides, milk sugar nucleotide, sialyl milk oligosaccharides.