Antibody response and viral shedding profile of Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus) infected with low pathogenicity H7N1 and H6N8 avian influenza viruses

Abstract

Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegypticus), a duck species endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally implicated in the transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIV) to farmed ostriches, were experimentally infected with low pathogenicity H7N1 and H6N8 viruses to assess viral shedding and immune profiles. Birds that received an initial infection with H7N1 virus were also challenged with H6N8 virus, and because a comparable shedding pattern to the H7N1 challenge group was observed, the researchers concluded that the effect of any nonspecific immunity was negligible.