Saliva swabs for bird flu virus more effective than faecal samples

[LMonty]

This is a surprise- kinda turns the usual process "upside down"!

Saliva swabs for bird flu virus more effective than faecal samples


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday December 11, 2006

Singapore- Scientists looking for indications of the bird flu virus have been taking swabs from the wrong end of the duck, a flu expert said in a published report Tuesday. US and British scientists have found that respiratory samples taken from migratory ducks and domestic birds contain more of the bird flu virus than the usual faecal samples, said Dr Robert Webster, from St Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Saliva swabs from the birds' beaks are much better for detecting bird flu virus particles, while faecal samples are the "least sensitive," The Straits Times quoted Webster as saying at the five- day Keystone Symposia in Singapore, which winds up on Thursday.

Faecal samples were regarded as easier to obtain.

Webster urged researchers to look towards oral swabs, or samples from water pans of domestic birds, provided they are not contaminated with faeces.

Another expert stressed that much more scientific research needs to be done to manage a human outbreak of the bird flu.

Dr Scott Dowell, who has spent the last four years helping fight infectious diseases in Thailand, told 200 clinicians and scientists on Monday that surveys in Thai villages, which had human outbreaks show "a possibility that the virus is food-borne."

"We need more rigorous studies to help us find out what are the risk factors that cause bird flu to be spread to humans," said Dowell, from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The focus during this year's event is on respiratory diseases such as bird flu. Nine researchers from the US, Britain and Asian are presenting their findings.

With 258 cases of human H5N1 infections detected so far, of which 158 have been fatal, Dowell said the mortality rate of more than 60 per cent "makes it one of the most deadly infectious diseases."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Saliva_swabs_for_bird_flu_virus_mor_12112006.html

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Saliva swabs for bird flu virus more effective than faecal samples

snips from Bloomberg article:

Disease Trackers Miss Flu Cases By Testing Birds at `Wrong End'

By John Lauerman

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Disease trackers in countries including the U.S. are missing bird flu cases when they test only fecal samples without checking the mouth for the virus, a top researcher said today.

Birds that show no avian influenza in standard fecal and rectal exams may be able to spread the virus on their breath, said Robert Webster, a bird flu expert at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Experiments by Erasmus University virologist Albert Osterhaus and Webster show that H5N1-infected birds may have as much as 10 times more virus in their upper airways than in their excrement.

``In many cases, we're testing the wrong end of the duck,'' Webster said in an interview in Singapore.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and a WHO research advisory group both have recommended that scientists swab animals' upper airways for bird flu virus.

The FAO recommends both tracheal and rectal testing of infected birds on its Web site. The agency will change the Web site to emphasize airway testing for H5N1, said Peter Roeder, an animal health officer who helped Indonesia set up its bird surveillance.


Following infected birds is an essential part of the fight to prevent or at least blunt the impact of a potential outbreak, researchers said at the five-day conference, which runs through Dec. 14. Potentially dangerous new mutations that might give H5N1 the ability to spread among people are cropping up in birds, and perhaps other species including cats and dogs, said Ron Fouchier, also an Erasmus virologist, at the conference.

``We've been hearing about hundreds of reports of dead cats from Indonesia,'' Fouchier said today in an interview. ``We've also had several reports of infected dogs from countries of the former Soviet Republic.'' Edit: it is about time to make these reports public?!

Research by Webster and Osterhaus has shown that sampling excrement and the end of the birds' digestive tract, called the cloaca, is no longer sufficient because of H5N1 is focused in the birds' airway.

Osterhaus, who is developing a comprehensive European bird monitoring program called Newflubird said that protocols are challenging some countries ethical standards for animal treatment.

``In the Netherlands, this testing is considered an animal experiment,'' he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aWDFZ8fEXgv8

More about cats in Indonesia:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showpost.php?p=54047&postcount=40

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Saliva swabs for bird flu virus more effective than faecal samples

Thanks Dutchy.