STUDY FINDS H5N1 INFLUENZA VIRUS INFECTIONS ASSOCIATION ALONG 0 DEGREE ISOTHERM
In a paper published April 8, 2010 in PLoS PATHOGENS, entitled:
Influenza virus particles
Spatial and Temporal Association of Outbreaks of H5N1 Influenza Virus Infection in Wild Birds with the 0 DEG C Isotherm, Reperant, et. al. discusses how wild bird movements and aggregations along cold weather fronts may have resulted in the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 in Europe during the winter of 2005-2006 thus potentially creating conditions favorable to HPAIV H5N1 transmission and spread among migratory wild bird populations.
The authors imply that higher densities of water birds along a freezing front likely favors increased transmission of HPAIV H5N1 and that maximum surface air temperatures close to 0°C may favor the persistence of HPAIV H5N1 in the environment and may enhance environmental transmission of the virus independently of water bird density.
The authors argue that water bird movements associated with cold weather and congregation of water birds along the 0°C isotherm likely contribute to the spread and geographical distribution of outbreaks of HPAIV H5N1 infection in wild birds.
Citation: Reperant LA, Fučkar NS, Osterhaus ADME, Dobson AP, Kuiken T, 2010 Spatial and Temporal Association of Outbreaks of H5N1 Influenza Virus Infection in Wild Birds with the 0°C Isotherm. PLoS Pathog 6(4): e1000854. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000854
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000854
Questions arise from these observations:
- What affects might long term climate change have in remodeling cold front weather patterns over time and what evolutionary and adaptive pressures result in the host to pathogen relationship?
- What mutational consequences might arise over time for better or worse in regards to disease as a result of a climatic change in cold weather front patterns?
- If historical cold weather fronts patterns could be compared to historical disease outbreak data, what evolutionary and adaptive patterns in host to pathogen relationship might be observed?
A series of papers on this subject by Stallknecht are listed at the end of this ProMed post:
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