Update on research at The U.S. National Poultry Research Laboratory

Authors: Suarez, David

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The largest animal disease outbreak in the U.S. was the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in poultry, which has affected close to 100 million birds. Recently the H5N1 HPAI 2.3.4.4b virus was also reported in dairy cows. The virus can replicate to high titer in the mammary gland with large amounts of virus in milk. There has been considerable concern about the potential for live HPAI virus being found in milk, and surveys have identified live virus in bulk milk tank samples before pasteurization. Fortunately, available data supports that pasteurization effectively inactivates virus and a recent retail milk survey showed evidence of viral RNA, but no live virus. This supports that pasteurized milk is safe, but there is a potential for human exposure in consumption of raw milk and by the farm workers working with infected cows. Research continues on the use of vaccines for th control of the disease in poultry. Research is also ongoing for the avian metapneumovirus virus, where recent outbreaks of both subtype A abd B are causing serious disease outbreaks in chickens and turkeys. Sequence analysis and improved PCR diagnostics were recently published.