Volume 14, Number 1—January 2008
Research
Experimental Infection of Swans and Geese with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) of Asian Lineage
, David E. Stallknecht*, and David E. Swayne†
Table 2
Virus isolation data from 4 species of swans and 2 species of geese exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) by intranasal inoculation and contact with infected birds*
| Species | Oropharynx |
Cloaca |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average duration† | AMT‡ (EID50/mL) | Average duration† | AMT‡ (EID50/mL) | ||
| Black swan | 2 (2–3) | 6.46 | 2 (1–2) | 4.94 | |
| Trumpeter swan | 5 (4–6) | 6.14 | 4 (2–5) | 3.18 | |
| Whooper swan | 5 (4–6) | 6.30 | 4 (3–5) | 4.25 | |
| Mute swan | 5 (3–7) | 5.58 | 4 (3–4) | 4.46 | |
| Cackling goose | 5 (4–6) | 5.25 | 3 (2–5) | 3.05 | |
| Bar-headed goose | 6 (5–8) | 5.10 | 3 (0–7) | 2.55§ | |
*Exposure date for each species was adjusted so that 0 d postcontact (when the contact birds were placed into the cage with the inoculated birds) was assumed to be equivalent to 0 d postinoculation. AMT, average maximum titer; EID50, median embryo infectious dose.
†Average duration of viral shedding in days (range).
‡AMT for birds that shed virus. All of the contact and inoculated birds shed detectable concentrations of virus by the oropharyngeal and cloacal route with 1 exception (noted below).
§One bar-headed goose did not excrete detectable virus by the cloacal route, and the average maximum titer for cloacal shedding in this species was calculated based on the 4 birds with detectable cloacal shedding. If all 5 geese were included in this calculation, the average cloacal shedding would be log10 2.04 EID50/mL.