By Peter von Buol
Special to Inside
Two Lincoln Park institutions teamed up earlier this month to host an innovative four-day seminar for human and wildlife health professionals and researchers on the deadly avian influenza virus strain known as H5N1. The strain was first detected in Asia in 2003 but has spread from Asia into parts of Europe.
Hosted by the Lincoln Park Zoo and Saint Joseph Hospital, more than 30 public health scientists, animal health professionals and scientific researchers gathered to discuss strategies for preventing and tackling any possible outbreaks of the deadly virus in the United States and North America.
Attendees included staff and researchers from the 210 zoos accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association as well as federal and local animal health and public health officials.
With large collections of exotic wildlife species that are tested for disease on a regular basis, zoos such as the Lincoln Park Zoo are uniquely positioned to help serve as an early-warning system for the detection of the avian influenza virus.
The zoo's staff epidemiologist, Dominic Travis, who previously coordinated a national response to an outbreak of the deadly mosquito-borne West Nile virus, planned the seminar in order to help animal and human health care communities pool their resources.
According to the World Health Organization, the H5N1 avian influenza virus was originally found among birds. As of Jan. 13, it is known to have infected 161 people worldwide and to have caused the deaths of 79 of them.
One of the federal officials who attended the seminar praised its organizers and stressed the importance of coordination among scientific professionals.
"It is very important at this point that human health, agricultural health, wildlife health and the captive species sector coordinate and communicate," says Dr. Nina Marano, associate director of veterinary public health at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Marano said is especially critical for veterinary researchers to coordinate their efforts with their human health partners.
"[It is important for animal health professionals] to talk with our human health partners...to share information and to work in conjunction with animal health and public health authorities," said Marano.
Marano says that while the H5N1 virus still does not normally infect humans, it has already infected people who have had close contact with poultry or eaten meat from infected birds. She says the virus is an especially contagious and lethal disease in poultry and is concerned the virus could mutate into one that could be spread from human to human in the same way seasonal influenza virus is transmitted. Such a virus would probably be much more lethal than common strains of influenza.
"There is a possibility the virus could mix with a human influenza virus in such a way that this could produce a re-assortment of these genetic subtypes and allow for species jumping into humans," says Marano.
In a written statement to symposium attendees, Ronald E. Struxness, the chief executive officer of St. Joseph Hospital, emphasized the importance of cooperation in order to contain any possible outbreak of the virus.
"As animal diseases such as avian influenza cross the species barrier to infect humans, the need to combine our expertise and resources to continue to help communities we serve is becoming increasingly apparent," said Struxness.
According to Marano, the symptoms of the H5N1 strain are very similar to seasonal human influenza so early detection is especially important. "It can look very much like a seasonal human influenza virus; the symptoms include a cough, a sore throat and a fever. It looks like many typical influenza strains. Diarrhea occurs in some of the cases as well," adds Marano.
Marano says the H5N1 strain most likely originated among wild waterfowl. Usually, she says, wild ducks and geese can be disease carriers that infect domestic poultry but do not themselves become stricken by most strains of avian influenza virus. However, the H5N1 is a more deadly form of influenza and has already been shown to be fatal to waterfowl.
"Most of the time, waterfowl can carry these viruses without showing clinical signs, but recently there have been die-offs of migratory birds in Europe and in Asia. A highly pathogenic virus has become even more pathogenic, even for migratory waterfowl. This has implications for wildlife health as well as human health officials," says Marano.
While the conference attendees discussed preventing a worst-case scenario, Marano added there is no crisis in the United States.
"In the United States, agriculture is compartmentalized more than in the countries that have had outbreaks. We don't live in close proximity to our chickens. We don't have chickens strolling in our backyard or through the house. Bio-security in the US tends to be much more compartmentalized and that leads to safer animal health and safer human health," says Marano. |
