Hemida Maged G, Chu Daniel, Abdelaziz Adel, Alnaeem Abdelmohsen, Chan Samuel Mo Sheung, Peiris M
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hufuf, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Vet Rec Open. 2019 Dec 1;6(1):e000362. doi: 10.1136/vetreco-2019-000362. eCollection 2019.
Avian influenza viruses are still causing major concern not only to the poultry industry but also to human health across the globe. The live poultry markets and the small-scale local breeding of various species of birds in backyards are still playing important roles in the sustainability of most virulent influenza viruses, especially H5N8.
The authors investigated an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 in backyard flocks in Al Ahsa, Eastern Saudi Arabia that occurred in 2017-2018.
A range of poultry including chickens, ostriches, ducks, pigeons and turkeys were clinically affected. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that this was a common source outbreak caused by a virus closely related to H5N8 viruses causing outbreaks elsewhere in Saudi Arabia in early 2018.
Small backyard flocks are still contributing to the epidemiology and transmission of H5N8.
禽流感病毒不仅仍在给全球家禽业带来重大担忧，也对人类健康构成威胁。活禽市场以及后院各种鸟类的小规模本地养殖，在大多数高致病性流感病毒（尤其是H5N8）的持续传播中仍起着重要作用。
作者调查了2017 - 2018年发生在沙特阿拉伯东部艾哈萨后院禽群中的高致病性禽流感H5N8疫情。
一系列家禽，包括鸡、鸵鸟、鸭、鸽子和火鸡都出现了临床症状。系统发育分析表明，这是一次由一种病毒引起的共同来源疫情，该病毒与2018年初在沙特阿拉伯其他地方引发疫情的H5N8病毒密切相关。
小型后院禽群仍在H5N8的流行病学和传播中发挥作用。
