SURVEILLANCE AND SEROMONITORING OF AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS IN RAWALPINDI-ISLAMABAD

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of avian influenza virus (AIV) in poultry in Pakistan. In this study enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to screen sera from avian species for the detection of antibodies to type A influenza virus. Data from healthy broiler, breeder and layer flocks depicted high levels of AIV antibodies indicating AIV exposure to the flocks. Some flocks with the history of respiratory tract infection but without overt signs of AIV also showed seroconversion to AIV. When the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test was employed to evaluate the specific seroconversion against AIV serotypes, the data revealed antibody titres against AIV serotype H9N2. A total of seven AIV isolates were recovered from the field and characterized serologically as well as on the basis of nucleic acid sequencing.