Publications by authors named "R D Slemons"
Avian influenza viruses can pose serious risks to agricultural production, human health, and wildlife. An understanding of viruses in wild reservoir species across time and space is important to informing surveillance programs, risk models, and potential population impacts for vulnerable species. Although it is recognized that influenza A virus prevalence peaks in reservoir waterfowl in late summer through autumn, temporal and spatial variation across species has not been fully characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuck hunting preserves (DHP) have resident populations of farm-raised mallard ducks, which create potential foci for the evolution of novel influenza A viruses (IAVs). Through an eleven-year (2003-2013) IAV surveillance project in seven DHPs in Maryland, USA, we frequently identified IAVs in the resident, free-flying mallard ducks (5.8% of cloacal samples were IAV-positive).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study highlights that waterfowl have been identified as the main carriers of influenza A viruses (IAVs) since 1976, prompting extensive surveillance to assess their impact on health risks for humans and animals.
- Researchers analyzed IAV trends from 1976 to 2015, detecting the virus in over 8,400 samples from migratory birds and isolating 96 different hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) subtype combinations.
- The findings reveal fluctuations in IAV prevalence based on seasonal migration patterns, with notable concerns about specific subtypes (H5 and H7) that could affect public health and agriculture, emphasizing the importance of ongoing surveillance efforts.
Article Synopsis
- The Mississippi Flyway is crucial for studying influenza A virus (IAV) diversity, as it is utilized by about 40% of North American migratory waterfowl.
- In 2008, a surveillance program in this region collected over 45,000 samples, identifying hundreds of IAV isolates, but seasonal sampling strategies may not effectively reflect the virus's natural history.
- Data from nearly year-round sampling of mallards in Ohio revealed that while 13.6% of samples tested positive for IAV, seasonal trends highlighted biases and gaps in data collection that hinder a comprehensive understanding of IAV ecology in these birds.
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) in swine can cause sporadic infections and pandemic outbreaks among humans, but how avian IAV emerges in swine is still unclear. Unlike domestic swine, feral swine are free ranging and have many opportunities for IAV exposure through contacts with various habitats and animals, including migratory waterfowl, a natural reservoir for IAVs. During the period from 2010 to 2013, 8,239 serum samples were collected from feral swine across 35 U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF