Identifying crucial gaps in our knowledge of the life-history of avian influenza viruses—an Australian perspective

Abstract

Abstract. We review our current knowledge of the epidemiology and ecology of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in Australia in relation to the ecology of their hosts.

The Recent Establishment of North American H10 Lineage Influenza Viruses in Australian Wild Waterfowl and the Evolution of Australian Avian Influenza Viruses

“…Evolutionary analyses of all available internal gene segments of multiple influenza virus subtypes from waterfowl provided crucial insight into the dynamics of avian influenza viruses in the region, suggesting that large-scale changes in weather may be an important determinant of waterfowl behavior, thereby affecting the dynamics of avian influenza viruses in the region (33,38).…”

Avian influenza in Australia: a summary of 5 years of wild bird surveillance

“…In contrast, 3 million Charadriiformes make annual trans‐hemispheric migrations via HPAI H5N1‐endemic south‐east Asian countries to spend their non‐breeding season in Australia . Therefore, many of the findings regarding AIV ecology, molecular phylogenetics and spread in Asia, Europe or North America may not be relevant to Australia . For this reason, Australian surveillance of wild bird reservoirs, both migratory (Charadriiformes) and nomadic (Anseriformes), is necessary to further our understanding of AIVs on the island continent and to assess and manage the risk to both animals and humans.…”

Biogeographic models of gene flow in two waterfowl of the Australo‐Papuan tropics

“…; Tracey ; Klaassen et al. ). The Australo‐Papuan region is at the southern end of the East Asian‐Australasian flyway.…”

“…As a result, the structure of waterfowl populations distributed across tropical areas of the Australo-Papuan region is unknown, as is the potential for waterfowl of Australian origin to mix on the floodplains of southern New Guinea with Palearctic waterfowl species that are possibly regular, but uncommon migrants or vagrants to the region (see Beehler et al 1986;Marchant and Higgins 1990;Simpson and Day 2010). The latter is a concern in the context of the spread of avian-borne zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza (see McCallum et al 2008;Klaassen et al 2011).…”