Hon Ip (Former Employee)

Nobuto filter paper strips are widely used for storing blood-serum samples, but the recovery of proteins from these strips following rehydration is unknown. Poor recovery of proteins could reduce the concentration of antibodies and antigens and reduce the sensitivity of diagnostic assays. We compared the protein concentration, and its association with test sensitivity, of eluted Nobuto...

Eurasian (EA)-origin H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4 avian influenza viruses were first detected in North America during December 2014. Subsequent reassortment with North American (AM) low-pathogenic wild-bird-origin avian influenza has generated at least two reassortants, including an EA/AM H5N1 from an apparently healthy wild green-winged teal, suggesting continued ongoing reassortment.

Novel Eurasian lineage avian influenza A(H5N8) virus has spread rapidly and globally since January 2014. In December 2014, H5N8 and reassortant H5N2 viruses were detected in wild birds in Washington, USA, and subsequently in backyard birds. When they infect commercial poultry, these highly pathogenic viruses pose substantial trade issues.

Since 1998, cyclic mortality events in common eiders (Somateria mollissima), numbering in the hundreds to thousands of dead birds, have been documented along the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. Although longitudinal disease investigations have uncovered potential contributing factors responsible for these outbreaks, detecting a primary etiological agent has proven enigmatic. Here...

Morbidity and mortality events caused by avian paramyxovirus-1 (APMV-1) in Double-crested Cormorant (DCCO; Phalacrocorax auritus) nesting colonies in the US and Canada have been sporadically documented in the literature. We describe APMV-1 associated outbreaks in DCCO in the US from the first reported occurrence in 1992 through 2012. The frequency of APMV-1 outbreaks has increased in the...

The infection status of harbor seals Phoca vitulina in central California, USA, was evaluated through broad surveillance for pathogens in stranded and wild-caught animals from 2001 to 2008, with most samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Stranded animals from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County were sampled at a rehabilitation facility: The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC, n = 175); wild...

Shorebirds are a primary reservoir of avian influenza viruses (AIV). We conducted surveillance studies in Iceland shorebird populations for 3 years, documenting high serological evidence of AIV exposure in shorebirds, primarily in Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres; seroprevalence = 75%). However, little evidence of virus infection was found in these shorebird populations and only two...

The ongoing human H7N9 influenza infections highlight the threat of emerging avian influenza viruses. In 2011, an avian H3N8 influenza virus isolated from moribund New England harbour seals was shown to have naturally acquired mutations known to increase the transmissibility of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses. To elucidate the potential human health threat, here we evaluate a...

Advances in massively parallel DNA sequencing platforms, commonly termed next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, have greatly reduced time, labor, and cost associated with DNA sequencing. Thus, NGS has become a routine tool for new viral pathogen discovery and will likely become the standard for routine laboratory diagnostics of infectious diseases in the near future. This study

West Nile Virus (WNV) infection has been reported in over 300 species of birds and mammals. Raptors such as eagles, hawks and falcons are remarkably susceptible, but reports of WNV infection in Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are rare and reports of WNV infection in grebes (Podicipediformes) even rarer. We report an unusually large wild bird mortality event involving between 15...

Sporadic epizootics of pneumonia among marine mammals have been associated with multiple animal-origin influenza A virus subtypes (1–6); seals are the only known nonhuman host for influenza B viruses (7). Recently, we reported serologic evidence of influenza A virus infection in free-ranging northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) captured off the coast of Washington, USA, in August...

Avian influenza virus (AIV) in wild birds has been of increasing interest over the last decade due to the emergence of AIVs that cause significant disease and mortality in both poultry and humans. While research clearly demonstrates that AIVs can move across the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, there has been no data to support the mechanism of how this occurs. In spring and autumn of 2010 and...