Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb 27:10:50.
doi: 10.1186/1746-6148-10-50.

Prevalence of influenza A viruses in livestock and free-living waterfowl in Uganda

Halid Kirunda  1 , Bernard Erima, Agnes Tumushabe, Jocelyn Kiconco, Titus Tugume, Sophia Mulei, Derrick Mimbe, Edison Mworozi, Josephine Bwogi, Lukwago Luswa, Hannah Kibuuka, Monica Millard, Achilles Byaruhanga, Mariette F Ducatez, Scott Krauss, Richard J Webby, Robert G Webster, Kofi Wurapa, Denis K Byarugaba, Fred Wabwire-Mangen
Affiliations

Prevalence of influenza A viruses in livestock and free-living waterfowl in Uganda

Halid Kirunda et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Avian influenza viruses may cause severe disease in a variety of domestic animal species worldwide, with high mortality in chickens and turkeys. To reduce the information gap about prevalence of these viruses in animals in Uganda, this study was undertaken.

Results: Influenza A virus prevalence by RT-PCR was 1.1% (45/4,052) while seroprevalence by ELISA was 0.8% (24/2,970). Virus prevalence was highest in domestic ducks (2.7%, 17/629) and turkeys (2.6%, 2/76), followed by free-living waterfowl (1.3%, 12/929) and swine (1.4%, 7/511). A lower proportion of chicken samples (0.4%, 7/1,865) tested positive. No influenza A virus was isolated. A seasonal prevalence of these viruses in waterfowl was 0.7% (4/561) for the dry and 2.2% (8/368) for the wet season. In poultry, prevalence was 0.2% (2/863) for the dry and 1.4% (24/1,713) for the wet season, while that of swine was 0.0% (0/159) and 2.0% (7/352) in the two seasons, respectively. Of the 45 RT-PCR positive samples, 13 (28.9%) of them were H5 but none was H7. The 19 swine sera positive for influenza antibodies by ELISA were positive for H1 antibodies by HAI assay, but the subtype(s) of ELISA positive poultry sera could not be determined. Antibodies in the poultry sera could have been those against subtypes not included in the HAI test panel.

Conclusions: The study has demonstrated occurrence of influenza A viruses in animals in Uganda. The results suggest that increase in volumes of migratory waterfowl in the country could be associated with increased prevalence of these viruses in free-living waterfowl and poultry.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal distribution of RT-PCR and ELISA positive samples. Key: Fig = Figure; RT-PCR = Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; ELISA = Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Jan = January; Feb = February, Mar = March; Apr = April; May = May; Jun = June; Jul = July; Aug = August; Sep = September; Oct = October; Nov = November; Dec = December.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Alexander DJ. A review of avian influenza in different bird species. Vet Microbiol. 2000;74:3–13. doi: 10.1016/S0378-1135(00)00160-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tong S, Zhu X, Li Y, Shi M, Zhang J, Bourgeois M, Yang H, Chen X, Recuenco S, Gomez J, Chen L-M, Johnson A, Tao Y, Dreyfus C, Yu W, McBride R, Carney PJ, Gilbert AT, Chang J, Guo Z, Davis CT, Paulson JC, Stevens J, Rupprecht CE, Holmes EC, Wilson IA, Donis RO. New world bats harbor diverse influenza a viruses. PLoS Pathog. 2013;9:e1003657. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003657. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Webster RG, Krauss S, Hulse-post D, Sturm-Ramirez K. Evolution of influenza a viruses in wild birds. J Wildl Dis. 2007;43:S1–S6. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-43.1.1. - DOI
    1. Owoade AA, Gerloff NA, Ducatez MF, Taiwo JO, Kremer JR, Muller CP. Replacement of sublineages of avian influenza (H5N1) by reassortments, sub-Saharan Africa. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:1731–1735. doi: 10.3201/eid1411.080555. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Couacy-Hymann E, Kouakou VA, Aplogan GL, Awoume F, Kouakou CK, Kakpo L, Sharp BR, McClenaghan L, McKenzie P, Webster RG, Webby RJ, Ducatez MF. Surveillance for influenza viruses in poultry and swine, west Africa, 2006-2008. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012;18:1446–1452. doi: 10.3201/eid1809.111296. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types