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Author Beveridge, W.I.
Title Unravelling the ecology of influenza A virus Type Journal Article
Year 1993 Publication History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences Abbreviated Journal Hist Philos Life Sci
Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 23-32
Keywords Animals; Bird Diseases/epidemiology/*history/microbiology; Birds; Ecology; History, 20th Century; Horse Diseases/epidemiology/*history/microbiology; Horses; Humans; Influenza A virus/*isolation & purification; Influenza, Human/epidemiology/*history/microbiology/*veterinary; Swine; Swine Diseases/epidemiology/*history/microbiology; Zoonoses/history
Abstract For 20 years after the influenza A virus was discovered in the early 1930s, it was believed to be almost exclusively a human virus. But in the 1950s closely related viruses were discovered in diseases of horses, pigs and birds. Subsequently influenza A viruses were found to occur frequently in many species of birds, particularly ducks, usually without causing disease. Researchers showed that human and animal strains can hybridise thus producing new strains. Such hybrids may be the cause of pandemics in man. Most pandemics have started in China or eastern Russia where many people are in intimate association with animals. This situation provides a breeding ground for new strains of influenza A virus.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0391-9714 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8310117 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2667
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Author Dowdle, W.R.; Schild, G.C.
Title Influenza: its antigenic variation and ecology Type Journal Article
Year 1976 Publication Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization Abbreviated Journal Bull Pan Am Health Organ
Volume 10 Issue 3 Pages 193-195
Keywords Animals; *Antigens, Viral; Bird Diseases/microbiology; Birds; Hemagglutinins, Viral; Horse Diseases/microbiology; Horses; Humans; Influenza A virus/immunology/isolation & purification; Influenza, Human/epidemiology; Mutation; Neuraminidase/immunology; Orthomyxoviridae/enzymology/*immunology; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/microbiology/veterinary; Recombination, Genetic; Swine; Swine Diseases/microbiology
Abstract Influenza viruses have two surface antigens, the glycoprotein structures hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Antibodies to each of these are associated with immunity, but the structures themselves are antigenically variable. When an antigenic change is gradual over time it is referred to as a drift, while a sudden complete or major change in either or both antigens is termed a shift. The mechanism of antigenic drift is usually attributed to selection of preexisting mutants by pressure from increasing immunity in the human population. The mechanism of antigenic shift is less clear, but one tentative hypothesis is that shifts arise from mammalian or avian reservoirs, or through genetic recombination of human and animal influenza strains.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0085-4638 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:187273 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2700
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Author Munoz-Sanz, A.
Title [Christopher Columbus flu. A hypothesis for an ecological catastrophe] Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiologia Clinica Abbreviated Journal Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin
Volume 24 Issue 5 Pages 326-334
Keywords Animals; Atlantic Islands; Birds; Chickens; Disease Outbreaks/*history; Disease Reservoirs; Disease Susceptibility; Ecology; Europe/ethnology; History, 15th Century; Horses; Humans; Indians, South American; Influenza A virus/classification/genetics/pathogenicity; Influenza in Birds/epidemiology/history/transmission/virology; Influenza, Human/epidemiology/*history/mortality/transmission; Models, Biological; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/epidemiology/history/veterinary/virology; Poultry Diseases/epidemiology/history/transmission/virology; Reassortant Viruses/genetics/pathogenicity; Species Specificity; Sus scrofa; Swine Diseases/history/transmission/virology; Terminology; West Indies/epidemiology
Abstract When Christopher Columbus and his men embarked on the second Colombian expedition to the New World (1493), the crew suffered from fever, respiratory symptoms and malaise. It is generally accepted that the disease was influenza. Pigs, horses and hens acquired in Gomera (Canary Islands) traveled in the same ship. The pigs may well have been the origin of the flu and the intermediary hosts for genetic recombination of other viral subtypes. The Caribbean archipelago had a large population of birds, the natural reservoir of the avian influenza virus. In this ecological scenario there was a concurrence of several biological elements that had never before coexisted in the New World: pigs, horses, the influenza virus and humans. We propose that birds are likely to have played an important role in the epidemiology of the flu occurring on the second Colombian trip, which caused a fatal demographic catastrophe, with an estimated mortality of 90% among the natives.
Address Unidad de Patologia Infecciosa, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, Servicio Extremeno de Salud, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Espana. infectio@unex.es
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Spanish Summary Language Original Title La gripe de Cristobal Colon. Hipotesis sobre una catastrofe ecologica
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0213-005X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16762260 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2624
Permanent link to this record