Gene-edited chickens resistant to bird flu being created to stop next pandemic

'If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source'

Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent @josh_gabbatiss

Wednesday 23 January 2019 12:55 

An attempt to create gene-edited chickens that are totally resistant to flu has been launched by scientists in a bid to avert the next global pandemic. 

Knocking out genes that are vital for the virus as it infects a host could produce birds that act as an effective barrier between dangerous new strains developing in the wild and humans.

A massive outbreak of flu, which can be transmitted from other animals including birds is considered by experts one of the biggest dangers facing humanity.

The most recent major event was the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic that struck in 2009. It killed around half a million people worldwide.

But an outbreak of Spanish flu that struck in 1918 and killed around 50 million people.

The first transgenic chicks that could stop a new form of bird flu before it reaches humans will be hatched later this year at the University of Edinburgh.

“If we could prevent influenza virus crossing from wild birds into chickens, we would stop the next pandemic at source,” said the project's leader Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London. 

The project is based on previous work that found a gene present in chickens codes for a protein that flu viruses require to infect a host.

Tests conducted in the laboratory found cells without this gene could not be penetrated by the viruses.

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Chief vet defends support of larger hen cages

2 December 2017

Some cages for hens provide a "necessary defence" against bird flu, the government's chief vet has said.

In a tweet, Nigel Gibbens said the larger pens, which replaced so-called battery cages in 2012, have welfare benefits and offer more space.

It comes after 10 leading British vets, who believe caging hens is unethical, said his "brazen endorsement" was "extremely disappointing".

They said the restricted space was "seriously detrimental to welfare".

Battery cages for chickens were banned in the EU in 2012. The ruling said that if laying hens were to be held they must be in enriched - also known as colony - cages instead.

The enriched cages provided extra space to nest, scratch and roost and the guidance from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is that each bird in an enriched cage must have at least 750 square centimetres of space.

The minimum for battery cages was 550 square centimetres.

Despite the banning of battery cages, a number of leading retailers have announced that they are moving towards selling free-range eggs only.

But at the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference in October, Mr Gibbens called this a "regrettable move" and said cages "have a lot going for them".

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Fears for Antarctic penguins as new bird flu strain reaches frozen continent

Migratory birds that interact with infected poultry in North and South America blamed as scientists worry virus reaching Antarctica more often than thought 

Australian Associated Press

Tuesday 20 September 2016 06.32 BST

The discovery of a new strain of bird flu in Antarctic penguins has raised concerns the virus is reaching the frozen continent more often than previously thought, flown in by migratory birds.

Australian researchers helped uncover the new strain of avian influenza in the chinstrap penguin in 2015, finding striking similarities to a North American strain, which meant it had been introduced to Antarctica only recently.

The virus was first detected in Antarctica in 2013, but the discovery of the new strain has raised a red flag to the vulnerability of penguins to avian flu and its capacity to reach Antarctica.

Associate professor Aeron Hurt, of the Melbourne-based Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, said scientists had previously thought viruses rarely reached Antarctica.

“What the most recent finding shows is that viruses do get down there more often than we thought and it’s a red flag towards the future,” Hurt said on Tuesday.

“Our concern with that is that there have been viruses over the last couple of years that have been quite deadly to certain types of birds.”

Read on 

It's all in the genes: New research reveals why some chickens are resistant to bird flu

Date:July 14, 2016

Source:University of Lincoln

The genes of some chickens make them almost completely resistant to a serious strain of bird flu, new research has revealed.

The findings, which are published in the journal Scientific Reports, show that genetics play a key part in whether the birds are susceptible or resistant to the potentially deadly virus. Until now, scientists around the world have paid little attention to the role the genetics of birds play in the transmission of flu, focusing instead on how the virus itself evolves and infects.

Led by Dr Colin Butter from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Lincoln, UK, this new research, which was carried out at The Pirbright Institute, could prove valuable in developing our understanding of the mechanisms of influenza transmission within and between birds. Dr Butter is one of the UK's leading authorities on avian flu with expertise in animal science, virology and immunology.

Influenza virus is the cause of influenza, or 'flu' -- the contagious respiratory viral disease common in many birds and mammals. The viruses circulating in wild birds and domesticated poultry are of particular interest to scientists because they may mutate into forms that are capable of infecting humans, and represent an emerging threat to human health as potential sources of the next flu pandemic.

This danger has led the World Health Organisation to highlight effective control measures, as well as an in-depth assessment of factors surrounding the infection of host animals, as part of their research priorities. Dr Butter's study takes an important step towards meeting these needs.

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Hens culled after bird flu strain found on Scottish farm

The Scottish government has ordered a cull of tens of thousands of hens after a mild strain of H5N1, or bird flu, was identified on a farm in Fife, it said on Wednesday.

"Laboratory tests have identified a very mild strain of the H5N1 virus and a humane cull of almost 40,000 birds has now begun," a statement said.

It added that the flu was "quite distinct" from the pathological strain which has caused several hundred human deaths in other parts of the world [nL8N14U06P].

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Bird flu confirmed at Yorkshire duck farm

17 November 2014 Last updated at 15:11

A case of bird flu has been confirmed at a duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire, officials have said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the risk to public health was very low. Some 6,000 birds will be culled and a 10km (6 mile) exclusion zone is in place.

The exact strain has not been confirmed but the H5N1 form, deadly to humans, has been ruled out by Defra officials.

The virus spreads between birds and, in rare cases, can affect humans.

The case is the first in the UK since 2008, when chickens on a farm in Banbury, Oxfordshire tested positive for the virus.

On Sunday, an outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu was discovered at a poultry farm in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government has imposed a three-day nationwide ban on the transportation of poultry and eggs.

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Coming soon — a treatment for bird flu!

Editorial Team July 22, 2014 at 7:03 pm

In a novel discovery, scientists have identified six potential therapeutics to treat the deadly H7N9 avian influenza.’The seriousness of the disease often results from the strength of immune response, rather than with the virus itself. Turning down that response, rather than attacking the virus, might be a better way to reduce that severity,’ explained Juliet Morrison from University of Washington, Seattle.

The viruses that cause severe illness like H7N9 trigger gene expression signatures that are different from the signatures seen in milder infections. ‘Importantly, we can exploit these signatures for antiviral drug discovery,’ Morrison added. The investigators used a computational approach to identify potentially therapeutic drugs. They searched databases containing gene expression profiles of cultured human cells that had been treated with different drugs. These drugs could potentially dampen the harmful host response. (Read:Potential treatment for drug-resistant H7N9 influenza virus comes closer to reality)

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Modern Bird Genes Have Potential To Cause A Pandemic Similar To 1918 Spanish Flu

June 12, 2014

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Avian bird flu strains that exist today share very similar characteristics with the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu strain that killed nearly five percent of the world’s population. That flu virus pandemic was the worst outbreak ever recorded and new research has found that only a few amino acids separate viral proteins currently found in bird populations from those that existed during the 1918 virus. The new evidence suggests a similar deadly virus may emerge in the near future.

Publishing a paper in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, an international team of researchers searched public databases to identify eight genes from influenza viruses isolated from wild ducks that possess remarkable genetic similarities to the genes that made up the 1918 pandemic flu virus. The Spanish Flu infected some 500 million people around the world, killing an estimated 40 million of them.

Led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, an international expert on influenza from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the new work shows “there are gene pools in nature that have the potential to cause a severe pandemic in the future.”

“Because avian influenza viruses in nature require only a few changes to adapt to humans and cause a pandemic, it is important to understand the mechanisms involved in adaptation and identify the key mutations so we can be better prepared,” Kawaoka said in a statement. “Research findings like this help us assess the risk of outbreaks and could contribute to routine surveillance of influenza viruses.”

To assess the risk posed by a virus that could acquire all eight of the 1918 flu genes, Kawaoka and colleagues used reverse genetics methods to generate a virus that differed from the Spanish Flu virus by only three percent of the amino acids that make the virus proteins. They discovered the resulting virus was more pathogenic in mice and ferrets than a typical avian flu virus, but was not as pathogenic as the 1918 virus and did not transmit via respiratory droplets, the typical mode of flu transmission.

Read more at

Scientists Complete First Global Inventory Of Flu Strains In Birds

Wildlife Conservation Society

A group of international scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies and genetic data, providing new insight into the drivers of viral diversity and the emergence of disease that can ultimately impact human health and livelihoods.

The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE and performed as part of the USAID PREDICT project, identified over 116 avian flu strains in wild birds. This is roughly twice the number that were found in domestic birds, and more than ten times the number found in humans. Additionally, an analysis of studies that sampled more than 5,000 birds suggested some regions may have more viral diversity than others.

Avian flu outbreaks come with no warning. In 2013, an H7N9 avian flu strain caused a deadly outbreak in people in China. This surprised virologists, as the strain had never before caused disease in humans. To date, there have been more than 300 clinical cases of H7N9 with a 33 percent mortality rate. This year, another strain known to infect birds, H10N8, has caused human cases for the first time.

Read more at 

Bird Flu Vaccine Successful on First Human Test

Scientists have successfully tested a bird flu vaccine on humans for the first time. This, coupled with the quick vaccine production process, is a milestone in fighting the deadly virus.

The mortality rate of the bird flu is around 30 percent of the infected patients. China had recorded 45 fatalities and 137 infections of the bird flu H7N9 since October. According to the World Health Organization, the H7N9 doesn’t show any signs of human transmission but this does not mean that the virus cannot go through changes in its inherent qualities to allow infection through human contact.

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New Details About H7N9 Influenza Infections That Suddenly Appeared in China

June 19, 2013 — Researchers with the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute have revealed new information about the latest strain of type A influenza, known as H7N9, in a report in the journal PLOS Currents: Outbreaks.

Since June 7, 132 confirmed cases of human infection with H7N9 have been reported in China and 37 people have died, according to the World Health Organization. It is the first time human infection with the avian influenza H7N9 subtype has been detected, and researchers fear that this strain may have pandemic potential.

The possibility of an animal source of the infection is being investigated, as is the possibility of person-to-person transmission.

However, most people who contracted the disease reported having contact with live birds in a bird market prior to infection. Researchers at the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory found that younger women generally have the most contact with poultry, but it is older men who are experiencing the most infections.

The findings suggest that there is something unique about older men that makes them particularly susceptible to H7N9. Their greater risk of infection is not just because they tend to spend more time exposed to an avian source.

Researchers quickly compiled the data using a variety of available sources to discover risk factors, which could aid in containing the spread of H7N9.

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Risks of H7N9 Infection Mapped

May 3, 2013 — A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is composed of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.

As of today, there have been 127 confirmed cases of H7N9 in mainland China with 27 deaths. A lack of information about the virus and its mode of transmission has led to public concerns that H7N9 could be a pandemic waiting to happen.

A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. (Credit: Benyun Shi, Shang Xia, Guo-Jing Yang, Xiao-Nong Zhou, Jiming Liu. Inferring the potential risks of H7N9 infection by spatiotemporally characterizing bird migration and poultry distribution in eastern China. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 2013; 2 (1): 8 DOI: 10.1186/2049-9957-2-8)

To quantify the risk of this happening scientists from the Hong Kong Baptist University and Chinese University of Hong Kong have generated a map of H7N9 risk in eastern China. The map is based on the northwards migratory patterns of birds (from the 4th February to the end of April) using environmental and meteorological data over the same 12 weeks -- from Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, to Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.

The distribution of potentially infected poultry was also included in the model. The majority of early cases of H7N9 were found in Shanghai, but Shanghai is not a big poultry exporter so the model shows limited transmission via this route. In contrast, Jiangsu distributes poultry to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and beyond.

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2 in China are first-known deaths from H7N9 bird flu

7:41a.m. EDT March 31, 2013

H7N9 is considered a low pathogen strain that is not easily contracted by people

China says the World Health Organization has been notified of the case

A third person, a woman in Anhui province, also was infected and is in critical condition

BEIJING (AP) — Two Shanghai men have died from a little-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain. Chinese authorities said Sunday that it wasn't clear how the men were infected, but that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

A third person, a woman in the nearby province of Anhui, also contracted the H7N9 strain of bird flu and was in critical condition, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a report on its website.

There was no sign that any of the three had contracted the disease from each other, and no sign of infection in the 88 people who had closest contact with them, the medical agency said.

H7N9 bird flu is considered a low pathogenic strain that cannot easily be contracted by humans. The overwhelming majority of human deaths from bird flu have been caused by the H5N1 strain.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/31/bird-flu-deaths-china/2039551/

FDA delays approval of GSK bird flu vaccine

LONDON (Reuters) - Regulators have delayed approval of an H5N1 bird flu vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, designed to be used in a pandemic.

A spokesman for Britain's biggest drugmaker said the delay was not related to recent controversy over links between a similar flu vaccine made by the company and narcolepsy.

Rather, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided it needed more time to assess the product "due to an administrative matter that has recently been rectified", GSK said in a statement on Monday.

"GSK and the FDA are actively working together to complete the review in a timely manner," it added.

There is growing evidence of a link between GSK's earlier H1N1 flu vaccine, Pandemrix, and an increase in narcolepsy cases among children who received it in Europe - a fact which has raised questions as to whether the FDA should approve the similar H5N1 product.

Both vaccines contain AS03, a new adjuvant, or booster, that turbo-charges the body's immune response to a vaccine.

A 14-member panel of advisers to the FDA voted unanimously in November to recommend the H5N1 vaccine to protect against bird flu. The panel considered early studies from Europe showing an increase in the number of narcolepsy cases but concluded that the potential benefit of the vaccine outweighed the risk.

Since then, however, new data, including study results from Britain, suggest the scale and strength of the narcolepsy link to Pandemrix during the 2009-10 H1N1 swine flu pandemic could be greater than first thought.

Officials at the FDA were not immediately available to comment on the case.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing Keith Weir)

http://news.yahoo.com/fda-delays-approval-gsk-bird-flu-vaccine-131231093--finance.html

Bird Flu Researchers Creating Genetically Modified Chickens To Thwart Disease

Bird flu researchers in Australia are creating genetically modified chickens in an effort to wipe out the disease. Some scientists think the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) project could have massive implications and eradicate avian flu.

H5N1 experts hope the genetically modified chickens will breed bird flu resistant offspring. If the CSIRO project is successful, a new line of poultry immune to the deadly avian flu could soon fill the earth. Researchers involved in the H5N1 project maintain the significance of the so-called super chickens cannot be understated.

CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory Director Martyn Jeggo stated that the ongoing project is the first time an animal resistant to a major disease has ever been produced. Dr. Jeggo also said, “If we can do it for one, why the h**l can’t we do it for every disease?”

The Australian scientists discovered RNAi molecules could “switch off” genes in plants to foster larger ears of corn and stronger drought-resistant stalks. The process used in the genetically modified produce created the groundwork used in the bird flu research. The researchers believe that interfering with RNAs is the right path to take when creating vaccines and disease resistant animals.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/562123/bird-flu-researchers-creating-genetically-modified-chickens/#SXSJRX0v75qFtBhX.99

We Are Not Safe From Bird Flu as Long as Factory Farms Exist

CNN reports that Cambodia is seeing a spike in the number of deaths due to the H5N1 strain of bird flu. In a related case, Mexico recently slaughtered more than 1 million chickens infected with the H7N3 strain of bird flu. Despite the increase in bird flu in Cambodia, H5N1 is currently not very contagious among humans (most people who contracted the virus were in direct contact with sick farmed animals), and H7N3 is not known to cause harm to humans.

In spite of our current low risk, it is just a matter of time before H5N1, H7N3 or another influenza strain evolves into a dangerous form that results in a pandemic. And the events in Mexico and Cambodia beg the question: Are we ever going to be safe from bird flu?

As long as we continue to treat animals raised for food poorly, the answer is a definite "no."

We are consuming more animals than ever before. Once viewed as a luxury, meat is now becoming a dietary staple for many due to a worldwide growth in urbanized populations and affluence. Today, more than 64 billion animals are raised and killed for food worldwide annually (1).

To meet this demand, the industry has chosen to sacrifice the space and well-being of animals in the name of efficiency. Farmed animals are treated as "production units" and are denied their most basic needs. The overwhelming majority of animals raised for food are housed in extremely filthy, overcrowded conditions without access to fresh air, sunlight, or room to move about normally. This demand-driven transformation of animal agriculture is so dramatic that it has been dubbed the "Livestock Revolution" (2).

Continued:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aysha-akhtar/bird-flu_b_2798136.html

Germany discovers bird flu case on poultry farm

Published February 15, 2013

Reuters

German authorities said a case of H5N1 bird flu had been discovered during initial tests on a poultry farm in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

The case was discovered in a duck farm, which was carrying out its own tests, the Brandenburg state agriculture ministry said on Friday.

The H5N1 virus mainly affects birds but occasionally jumps to people. Experts fear it may mutate into a form that could spread easily among humans, who have no natural immunity against it.

The initial finding was confirmed by a state laboratory, and final tests are currently being carried out, the state ministry said.

The farm has been sealed off and its poultry will be culled, the statement said.

The cause is unknown and an investigation has started.

Bird flu is currently present in Asian countries including China, Cambodia and Indonesia. It has also been reported in wild birds in parts of Europe.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/15/germany-discovers-bird-flu-case-on-poultry-farm/#ixzz2LMKBuPUL

Mexico: Bird Flu Outbreak Hits 582,000 Chickens

MEXICO CITY February 16, 2013 (AP)

Mexico's animal health agency says a bird flu outbreak at seven farms in central Mexico has affected as many as 582,000 chickens.

The Agriculture Department says more than a half million birds were exposed, but the number that will have to be slaughtered has yet to be determined.

An outbreak of the H7N3 bird flu virus in western Mexico in 2012 led to the slaughter of more than 22 million hens and caused price increases in chicken and egg products.

But the department said Friday that the current outbreak has not affected the supply of chicken products.

It said tests were continuing to determine the exact strain of virus involved in the outbreak, but said it did not affect humans.

Mexico's nationwide flock amounts to 137 million birds.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-bird-flu-outbreak-hits-582000-chickens-18517217

Bird flu found at German farm; ducks slaughtered

Updated 4:36 am, Saturday, February 16, 2013

BERLIN (AP) — About 14,000 ducks at a German farm are being slaughtered following a bird flu outbreak.

A federal laboratory confirmed Friday the H5N1 virus was detected at the farm near Seelow, east of Berlin — the first such finding in Germany in more than three years.

On Saturday, officials started slaughtering the farm's ducks. Local council spokesman Tobias Seyfarth told news agency dpa that all poultry within a one-kilometer (half-mile) radius of the facility will be kept under observation for the next 21 days, with owners told to keep their birds where they are and report any symptoms.

The H5N1 virus normally spreads between sick poultry, but it can sometimes spread from poultry to humans. Bird flu has killed 367 people worldwide since surfacing in 2003, the World Health Organization says.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/Bird-flu-found-at-German-farm-ducks-slaughtered-4284145.php#ixzz2L5PmiHpA

Bird Flu: New Cases Discovered In China, Sparking Fears Of Outbreak

The bird flu has been discovered in two new cases in China in what has become the second outbreak in that country this year.

The cases were discovered in Guiyang, located in Southwest China. There a 21-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man tested positive for the H1N1 bird flu virus over the weekend, the Global Post reported. Both were taken in to a hospital for treatment and were listed in critical condition.

“They are in critical condition and medical workers are carrying out emergency treatment. No epidemiological connections have been found between the two cases,” the Chinese health ministry stated (via Xinhua).

The two began developing symptoms on February 2 and February 3, and investigators believe neither had direct contact with birds before falling ill.

The new bird flu cases have sparked fears of an outbreak in China. From Reuters:

“China is considered one of the nations most at risk from bird flu epidemics because it has the world’s biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans.”

The bird flu cases in Guiyang makes the second major city in China to be struck by the disease. In January, a 19-year-old migrant worker died in Beijing after contracting bird flu.

Since the first major outbreak in 2003, bird flu has been responsible for 365 deaths across the world, the World Health Organization noted. It is most commonly spread through direct contact between birds and humans, but health experts worry that it could mutate to spread by person-to-person contact.

While the cases in China were found, bird flu was also discovered at a farm in Kathmandu, the Himalayan Times noted.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/519126/bird-flu-new-cases-discovered-in-china-sparking-fears-of-outbreak/#j8hQAvEV2bHkXQjp.99