Thursday, August 4, 2016

Flu-resistant chickens a possibility


Researchers have found chickens that seem capable of resisting avian influenza.

Colin Butter of the University of Lincoln in England has found some birds that are completely unable to initiate or sustain a chain of infection.

They do pick up avian influenza, but the virus only comes out of their breathing and only for a short time, not in their faces.

That means it doesn’t spread through the flock.

“The prospect of breeding birds with natural immunity to influenza virus would certainly widen the scope of existing control measures and perhaps limit the risk to the human population of the emergence of pandemic viruses,” said Butter.

Birds that were susceptible to the disease also shed virus in feces and over a longer time. The researchers determined this was the only relevant means of spreading the virus.

“It is important for us to understand how different genetic lines of bird react to influenza viruses, so that we can begin to understand the spread of the disease,” Butter said.