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Fowl mites as Avian Influenza vectors?

C

Coleman

Well-known member
In relation with the colony collapse disorder of bees, scientists found out, that there has ermerged an newly and highly pathogenic fungus, namely nosema ceranae. That just as introduction ... But furthermore a german study found out, that vaora mite can obviously transmit virus diseases ... which could be also the cause of the great mortality of bees.

Is there any study which consider the impact of fowl mites in relation with the distribution/transmission of virus diseases like AI??
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Fowl mites cannot pierce human skin. So no transmission there.

It would be interesting to know if possible transmission between fowls has been studied.
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Coleman said:
In relation with the colony collapse disorder of bees, scientists found out, that there has ermerged an newly and highly pathogenic fungus, namely nosema ceranae. That just as introduction ... But furthermore a german study found out, that vaora mite can obviously transmit virus diseases ... which could be also the cause of the great mortality of bees.

Is there any study which consider the impact of fowl mites in relation with the distribution/transmission of virus diseases like AI??
Click to expand...

Welcome Coleman.

Those reports sound interesting. Do you have some links for those with inquiring minds? :)

,
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Red Mite of poultry does bite through the skin for a blood meal on resting poultry, so it is a possible vector, I believe.

This research group in Scotland is working on a vaccine for poultry red mite.

http://www.moredun.org.uk/feature-article.asp?ref=278

Vaccine for Poultry Mites?
by Dr John Huntley

From the extensive experience gained from working with the sheep scab mites, a major new avenue for Moredun has been opened through Defra funding on the poultry red mite. This work, which is in collaboration with the Avian Science Research Centre (SAC), is aimed to develop a vaccine to this parasite which is a major problem in the poultry industry. The red mites bite and feed on the blood of hens during darkness, but in daylight hide in the crevasses and crannies of the hen house. The mites cause anaemia, loss of egg laying, feather loss and pecking disorders, and mites are now becoming resistant to many of the chemicals used for control.
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

last year I was calling FLI whether they were examining the swans
for parasites, i.e. Freyana Anserina.
They didn't. Not that it would have been particularly difficult,
they just weren't interested without reason.
Then we had the submission through feathers in Azerbaijan.

If there had been something, then it's hard to imagine though,
that they would have missed it. Or not ?
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors? Since at least 1947!

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors? Since at least 1947!

1947 Article!

http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/abstract/86/3/229

The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 86, 229-237, Copyright, 1947, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research New York

ARTICLE

ST. LOUIS ENCEPHALITIS : TRANSMISSION OF VIRUS TO CHICKENS BY INFECTED MITES DERMANYSSUS GALLINAE AND RESULTING VIREMIA AS SOURCE OF VIRUS FOR INFECTION OF MITES



Margaret G. Smith M.D.1, Russell J. Blattner M.D.1, and Florence M. Heys Ph.D.1

1 From the Department of Pathology and the Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis

Transmission of the virus of St. Louis encephalitis to normal chickens by the bite of infected mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) has been demonstrated. Both experimentally infected and naturally infected mites were shown to be capable of transferring the virus of St. Louis encephalitis to chickens by bite. Virus is present in the blood of such chickens in small amounts, so that demonstration of viremia was possible only by utilizing chorioallantoic passage in hens' eggs. However, there is sufficient virus present in the blood for uninfected chicken mites to acquire the virus by feeding on chickens in which viremia has resulted from previous bite of infected mites. Thus it has been shown that the arachnid vector Dermanyssus gallinae is capable of transmitting the virus of St. Louis encephalitis to normal chickens by bite and that such chickens can serve as a source of virus for uninfected mites.
Submitted on July 1, 1947
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

cats,rats,mice,vets can spread the red mites
they are active at night and hide the day outside the bird in the surrounding
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

I know fowl mites ... i have chicken ... I'm not very worried, but i want to understand the vector model ... and it grows ...
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Does anyone know if a vector can transmit one virus, can it transmit all viruses?

.
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

If we discuss the question we first have to recognize that, besides fowl mites, there are some more candidates in the hen coop , not to forget mosquitoes

As for transmission of AIDS by mosquitoes the question has been discussed extensively on a theoretical basis which should apply to influenza too, at least in part.
Why Mosquitoes Cannot Transmit AIDS

by Wayne J. Crans, Associate Research Professor in Entomology

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet # FS736
Media releases concerning the possibility of mosquitoes transmitting AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) were common when the disease was first recognized, and the subject is still addressed by tabloids that seek captivating headlines to increase their circulation. The topic was initiated by reports from a small community in southern Florida where preliminary evidence suggested that mosquitoes may have been responsible for the higher on average incidence of AIDS in the local population. The media was quick to publicize claims that mosquitoes were involved in AIDS transmission despite findings of scientific surveys of the National Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that clearly demonstrated that mosquito transmission of AIDS in that community appeared highly unlikely. Nevertheless, media releases perpetuated the concept that mosquitoes transmitted AIDS, and many people still feel that mosquitoes may be responsible for transmission of this infection from one individual to another.
There are three theoretical mechanisms which would allow blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes to transmit HIV.
1. In the first mechanism, a mosquito would initiate the cycle by feeding on an HIV positive carrier and ingest virus particles with the blood meal. For the virus to be passed on, it would have to survive inside the mosquito, preferably increase in numbers, and then migrate to the mosquito's salivary glands. The infected mosquito would then seek its second blood meal from an uninfected host and transfer the HIV from its salivary glands during the course of the bite. This is the mechanism used by most mosquito-borne parasites, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue, and the encephalitis viruses.
2. In the second mechanism, a mosquito would initiate the cycle by beginning to feed on an HIV carrier and be interrupted after it had successfully drawn blood. Instead of resuming the partial blood meal on its original host, the mosquito would select an AIDS-free person to complete the meal. As it penetrated the skin of the new host, the mosquito would transfer virus particles that were adhering to the mouthparts from the previous meal. This mechanism is not common in mosquito-borne infections, but equine infectious anemia is transmitted to horses by biting flies in this manner.
3. The third theoretical mechanism also involves a mosquito that is interrupted while feeding on an HIV carrier and resumes the partial blood meal on a different individual. In this scenario, however, the AIDS-free host squashes the mosquito as it attempts to feed and smears HIV contaminated blood into the wound. In theory, any of the mosquito-borne viruses could be transmitted in this manner providing the host circulated sufficient virus particles to initiate re-infection by contamination.
Each of these mechanisms has been investigated with a variety of blood sucking insects and the results clearly show that mosquitoes cannot transmit AIDS. News reports on the findings, however, have been confusing, and media interpretation of the results has not been clear. The average person is still not convinced that mosquitoes are not involved in the transmission of a disease that appears in the blood, is passed from person to person and can be contracted by persons that share hypodermic needles. Here are just some of the reasons why the studies showed that mosquitoes cannot transmit AIDS:
Mosquitoes Digest the Virus that Causes AIDS

When a mosquito transmits a disease agent from one person to another, the infectious agent must remain alive inside the mosquito until transfer is completed. If the mosquito digests the parasite, the transmission cycle is terminated and the parasite cannot be passed on to the next host. Successful mosquito-borne parasites have a number of interesting ways to avoid being treated as food. Some are refractory to the digestive enzymes inside the mosquito's stomach; most bore their way out of the stomach as quickly as possible to avoid the powerful digestive enzymes that would quickly eliminate their existence. Malaria parasites survive inside mosquitoes for 9-12 days and actually go through a series of necessary life stages during that period. Encephalitis virus particles survive for 10-25 days inside a mosquito and replicate enormously during the incubation period. Studies with HIV clearly show that the virus responsible for the AIDS infection is regarded as food to the mosquito and is digested along with the blood meal. As a result, mosquitoes that ingest HIV-infected blood digest that blood within 1-2 days and completely destroy any virus particles that could potentially produce a new infection. Since the virus does not survive to reproduce and invade the salivary glands, the mechanism that most mosquito-borne parasites use to get from one host to the next is not possible with HIV.
Mosquitoes Do Not Ingest Enough HIV Particles to Transmit AIDS by Contamination

Insect-borne disease agents that have the ability to be transferred from one individual to the next via contaminated mouthparts must circulate at very high levels in the bloodstream of their host. Transfer by mouthpart contamination requires sufficient infectious particles to initiate a new infection. The exact number of infectious particles varies from one disease to the next. HIV circulates at very low levels in the blood--well below the levels of any of the known mosquito-borne diseases. Infected individuals rarely circulate more that 10 units of HIV, and 70 to 80% of HIV-infected persons have undetectable levels of virus particles in their blood. Calculations with mosquitoes and HIV show that a mosquito that is interrupted while feeding on an HIV carrier circulating 1000 units of HIV has a 1:10 million probability of injecting a single unit of HIV to an AIDS-free recipient. In laymen's terms, an AIDS-free individual would have to be bitten by 10 million mosquitoes that had begun feeding on an AIDS carrier to receive a single unit of HIV from contaminated mosquito mouthparts. Using the same calculations, crushing a fully engorged mosquito containing AIDS positive blood would still not begin to approach the levels needed to initiate infection. In short, mechanical transmission of AIDS by HIV-contaminated mosquitoes appears to be well beyond the limits of probability. Therefore, none of the theoretical mechanisms cited earlier appear to be possible for mosquito transmission of HIV.
Mosquitoes Are Not Flying Hypodermic Needles

Many people think of mosquitoes as tiny, flying hypodermic syringes, and if hypodermic needles can successfully transmit HIV from one individual to another then mosquitoes ought to be able to do the same. We have already seen that HIV-infected individuals do not circulate enough virus particles to result in infection by contamination. However, even if HIV-positive individuals did circulate high levels of virus, mosquitoes could not transmit the virus by the methods that are employed in used syringes. Most people have heard that mosquitoes regurgitate saliva before they feed, but are unaware that the food canal and salivary canal are separate passageways in the mosquito. The mosquito's feeding apparatus is an extremely complicated structure that is totally unlike the crude single-bore syringe. Unlike a syringe, the mosquito delivers salivary fluid through one passage and draws blood up another. As a result, the food canal is not flushed out like a used needle, and blood flow is always unidirectional. The mechanics involved in mosquito feeding are totally unlike the mechanisms employed by the drug user's needles. In short, mosquitoes are not flying hypodermic needles and a mosquito that disgorges saliva into your body is not flushing out the remnants of its last blood meal.

For more in depth information on this topic see Staff Paper #I, Do Insects Transmit AIDS?, OTA series on AIDS-Related Issues, Health Program, Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress, Washington, D.C. 20510-8025.



<HR>Thanks are due to the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association, Inc., who contributed funds to defray the cost of this fact sheet.
New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Publication No. H-40101-01-93 supported by State funds
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
N.J. Agricultural Experiment Station
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , New Brunswick
Distributed in cooperation with U.S. Department of Agriculture in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Cooperative Extension works in agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H. Zane R. Helsel, director of Extension. Rutgers Cooperative Extension provides information and educational services to all people without regard to sex, race. color, national origin. disability or handicap, or age. Rutgers Cooperative Extensionis an Equal Opportunity Employer.
http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/aids.htm
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besides the potential transmission dicussed above there is possibility of a fomite-alike passive virus adhesion on the parasite.
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Many hematophagous ectoparasites can be carriers of infectious diseases. The most important are ticks, but also fleas can be
transported on their hosts even between continents. Many viruses, bcteria and protozoa can be spread in this way:
[Encephalitis viruses, Tyuleniy, Meaban, Bahig, Hughes
group, Sakhalin group, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Bhanja, Kemerovo, Great Island complex, Chenuda complex, Thogoto and Dhori ~,
Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) A. phagocytophilum (Anaplasmosis),
Babesia microti (human babesiosis)].
Mosquitoes count for Eastern and Western equine encephalomyelitis, West Nil Virus, St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and other viruses, backflies for Leucocytozoonosis, Salmonellosis and Campylobacter etc.

So I guess it isn't impossible for any virus or bacteria.
Click to expand...

There may be some reasons to include influenza.

What's the difference?
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The seasonality of AI with maximums in the cold periods does virtually not support the hypothesis of a major role of arthropodes in AI epidemiology
 
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Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

My idea was, maybe they are reservoirs between the warm and cold seasons?
 
Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

Re: Fowl mites as AI vectors?

http://www.h5n1-influenza.net/showabstract.php?pmid=7930699

Potentiation of infectivity and pathogenesis of influenza A virus by a house dust mite protease.
Akaike T, Maeda H, Maruo K, Sakata Y, Sato K.

Department of Microbiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Japan.

Common house dust mites (e.g., Dermatophagoides farinae) excrete a serine-type (Df) protease. Df protease obtained from cultured mites enhanced viral replication in vitro via proteolytic cleavage of viral hemagglutinin (HA) into HA1 and HA2, which confers potent viral infectivity. Its potency is 2- to 5-fold higher than bovine trypsin or human plasmin. Df protease also markedly accelerated virus propagation in vivo: A minute quantity of protease (estimated delivered amount, 0.8-3.2 micrograms) produced approximately 4- to 100-fold increases in infectious virus in the mouse lung. Similar augmentation of viral replication by Df protease was observed in ferret models of nasopharyngeal infections of influenza virus. All extracts from ordinary house dust contained a serine-type protease that cleaved HA into HA1 and HA2. Thus, mite protease in house dust may enhance the pathogenesis of influenza virus.
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What about to study Fowl mites finally?
 
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