Wild waterfowl migration and domestic duck density shape the epidemiology of highly pathogenic H5N8 influenza in the Republic of Korea.

ABSTRACT: Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses threaten human and animal health yet their emergence is poorly understood, partly because sampling of the HPAI Asian-origin H5N1 lineage immediately after its identification in 1996 was comparatively sparse. The discovery of a novel H5N8 virus in 2013 provides a new opportunity to investigate HPAI emergence in greater detail. Here we investigate the origin and transmission of H5N8 in the Republic of Korea, the second country to report the new strain. We reconstruct viral spread using phylogeographic methods and interpret the results in the context of ecological data on poultry density, overwintering wild bird numbers, and bird migration patterns. Our results indicate that wild waterfowl migration and domestic duck density were important to H

SUBMITTER: Hill SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4539883 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature