TY - JOUR AU - Reperant, Leslie A. AU - van Amerongen, Geert AU - van de Bildt, Marco W.G. AU - Rimmelzwaan, Guus F. AU - Dobson, Andrew P. AU - Osterhaus, Albert D.M.E. AU - Kuiken, Thijs T1 - Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) Infection in Red Foxes Fed Infected Bird Carcasses T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2008 VL - 14 IS - 12 SP - 1835 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Eating infected wild birds may put wild carnivores at high risk for infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1). To determine whether red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are susceptible to infection with HPAI virus (H5N1), we infected 3 foxes intratracheally. They excreted virus pharyngeally for 3–7 days at peak titers of 103.5–105.2 median tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) per mL and had severe pneumonia, myocarditis, and encephalitis. To determine whether foxes can become infected by the presumed natural route, we fed infected bird carcasses to 3 other red foxes. These foxes excreted virus pharyngeally for 3–5 days at peak titers of 104.2–104.5 TCID50/mL, but only mild or no pneumonia developed. This study demonstrates that red foxes fed bird carcasses infected with HPAI virus (H5N1) can excrete virus while remaining free of severe disease, thereby potentially playing a role in virus dispersal. KW - Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus KW - H5N1 KW - red fox KW - vulpes KW - carnivore KW - encephalitis KW - crossing of the species barrier KW - research KW - United States KW - the Netherlands DO - 10.3201/eid1412.080470 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/12/08-0470_article ER - End of Reference