Recipient Organization
DUKE UNIVERSITY
BOX 90340 PHYTOTRON BUILDING
DURHAM,NC 27708
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Avian influenza virus outbreaks in poultry are a serious threat to our food supply and economy. Since 2022, these outbreaks have caused over 90 million bird deaths, severe egg shortages, and cost the poultry industry over $1 billion in the US. The viruses responsible for these outbreaks, called highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs), come from less harmful viruses, low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIVs), that can spread between domestic and wild birds. If LPAIVS keep spreading, they can mutate into HPAIVs. It is crucial to reduce the spread of LPAIVS to prevent HPAIVs from emerging.LPAIVs can spread through contaminated water or surfaces, and their survival in the environment is a key aspect of their continued circulation. Understanding how long these viruses stay infectious in different conditions is important to identify where and when they might be present. Our research will comprise experiments that simulate real-world conditions to accurately track virus survival. These findings can help farmers know when and where the risk of virus spread may be greatest. This information will also help develop strategies to limit virus spread, strengthening poultry production and reducing the risk of avian influenza virus spreading to other animals or humans.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
20%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this project is to more accurately define the environmental inactivation of low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) by incorporating the contribution of overlooked abiotic parameters. We will fulfill this overall goal by conducting the following specific objectives: 1) Define the inactivation kinetics of LPAIV under a range of environmentally relevant conditions (e.g., relative humidity, temperature, and sunlight); and 2) Determine the impact of virus solution composition on environmentally mediated LPAIV decay.
Project Methods
In this project, we will conduct experiments to study the inactivation of avian influenza virus using an environmental chamber that precisely controls humidity and temperature. We will propagate low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIVs) in specific-pathogen-free eggs; importantly, we will purify our stocks by ultracentrifugation and resuspend virus in physiologically relevant matrices (e.g., feces, saliva, nasal mucus, water) so we can study virus inactivation in solutions that are more representative of real-world conditions than laboratory-derived solutions that have historically been used. LPAIV in relevant matrices will be exposed to variable temperature, humidity, and sunlight settings to mimic exposures that occur in wild bird habitats and/or poultry farms, inclusive of backyard and domestic flocks. Decay of avian influenza virus infectivity and genome signal will be monitored throughout experiments. These data will be analyzed to develop inactivation curves that quantitatively describe the rate of virus inactivation over time for a particular set of environmental conditions. With the genome data, we will develop a correlation between infectious virus and viral RNA; this correlation tool can be used in surveillance efforts to estimate infectious virus loads at environmental sites where genomic material has been measured.Benchmarks of success will be evaluated at least quarterly to ensure progress is being made towards the specific objectives of this project and ultimately the overall goal of this work. The specific metrics below will be evaluated during progress meetings with project members, where the work conducted on the project to date will be compiled and comprehensively assessed. Any metrics in which progress is lacking will be further evaluated to make sure the metrics set are feasible, and these metrics will be prioritized.Project progress will be evaluated by reaching the following specific metrics of success in Year 1:Procurement and propagation of at least two low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains to high titer (> 107 TCID50/mL).Inactivation curve of at least two low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains with humidity and temperature.Inactivation curve of at least two low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains with sunlight.Development of a molecular assay to track genome decay with virus infectivity loss.Planning of at least one outreach/extension event at the Duke Farm.Preparation of at least one manuscript for submission to a high-quality journal.Dissemination of project findings at 1 - 2 domestic conferences on infectious animal diseases and/or environmental virology.Project progress will be evaluated by reaching the following specific metrics of success in Year 2:Procurement and propagation of two additional low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains to high titer (> 107 TCID50/mL).Inactivation curve of at least two low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains in at least two physiologically relevant solutions (e.g., water, feces, saliva, mucus).Inactivation curve of two additional low pathogenic avian influenza virus strains with temperature, humidity, and sunlight.Incorporation of concepts related to avian influenza virus spread and disease into my graduate level public health engineering course.Planning and execution of at least two outreach/extension events at the Duke Farm by the end of Year 2.Acceptance of at least one manuscript to a high-quality journal.Preparation of at least one manuscript for submission to a high-quality journal.We will interpret our findings to define potential mitigation strategies that can be incorporated by farmers or other wildlife-facing stakeholders into daily practices to reduce avian influenza virus spread. We will also make our results available for risk assessments in which hot spots of likely influenza virus spread can be more easily identified.