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Influenza is the name of a virus, or rather a family of viruses, which frightens people

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because they know it can kill.

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But what exactly do we mean when we talk of avian flu, avian plague, or avian virus?

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Avian means concerning birds.

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We're therefore talking about a virus present in birds.

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In order to understand the intense scientific research which Europe is supporting to combat

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this virus, we first of all have to understand what exactly a virus is.

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A virus is an envelope containing a coded message which speaks the same language as

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all living animal or human cells.

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It's the genetic code.

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So when the virus enters a living cell and delivers its message, not only does the cell

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understand it, but it also executes the order.

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In some cases, this genetic deviation can be fatal.

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This is precisely the case with the influenza virus whose envelope is spiked with two types

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of sharp point, proteins.

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In orange, hemagglutinin H, and in blue, neuraminidase N, hence the famous reference H5N1.

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It causes death of 80 to 100 percent of the birds it infects, and it is also capable of

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infecting humans and of killing 50 percent of the humans it infects.

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There are 16 different forms of H and 9 of N.

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And it was the most dangerous combination, H5N1, the most pathogenic form, which started

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to propagate itself amongst birds in Asia in 1999.

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In Asia, what has happened is that this virus has found an ideal situation with very many

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different species that it is capable of infecting, and it has done his best to spill over into

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different species.

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So we have seen infection in different bird species, which are in fact quite distinct

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from another, like chickens, like wild birds, like ducks, like geese.

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We have seen infections spilling over into pigs, and we have seen infections spilling

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over into humans.

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Because influenza can easily spread from one species to another.

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This manipulation clearly shows how virulent viruses are.

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A sample suspected of containing the H5N1 virus is injected into a living egg.

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This is what happens.

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In the absence of the virus, the embryo survives.

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We can even see how it moves with the help of this special lamp.

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However, if the virus is present, in just a few hours the egg dies.

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But at the same time, it produces a quantity of analyzable and identifiable virus.

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Detecting and recognizing the H5N1 virus, understanding the way it's transmitted between

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species and judging the efficacy of appropriate vaccines, is the objective of the Aviflu project

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financed by the European Union.

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It's a joint research project with five members from Italy, the Netherlands, France, Denmark

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and the UK.

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One of the main goals is to evaluate the efficacy of these vaccines.

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In order to evaluate the efficacy and the level of protection from clinical disease

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in birds, and also to evaluate the virus shed by vaccinated birds, because we want to know

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if vaccinated birds are still carriers of the virus.

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What we showed is that we only needed to vaccinate the birds once.

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After 14 days after vaccination, they were protected, they didn't show any disease anymore,

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and the virus didn't spread.

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But seven days after vaccination, they became infected, didn't show any disease, but still

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spread the virus to other birds.

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This is why researchers at the Zooprophylactic Institute in Venice have developed the DIVA

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process which allows scientists to differentiate between animals which have been vaccinated

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and infected, and animals which have simply been infected.

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A vaccine, that is a virus rendered harmless, is injected which presents H5 on its surface

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and not N1 but N9.

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As a result, this mouse will be protected against H5N1 because it will have developed

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antibodies against H5, but it will produce antibodies against N9, proof that it's been

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vaccinated.

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As well as the diagnostic aspect and vaccination of the animal population, a whole area of

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European research is dedicated to veterinary surveillance.

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The European Union's NOVAFLU project has allowed six member states to establish a real network

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to monitor wild birds in collaboration with ornithologists and bird watchers, because

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we know that migration routes are a potential way for the virus to reach Europe.

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These are the polders in the Netherlands, and using tame geese and large nets, these

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men are capturing wild geese from Siberia.

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The sampling effort is massive in order to have at any moment a very clear picture of

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the level of penetration of the virus, as well as the type of virus entering.

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But that's not all.

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When we had the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the Netherlands in 2003,

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when we had to kill more than 30 million chickens in this country, and where 89 people became

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infected, developed disease, and even one person died, right at the beginning of the

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outbreak, we could tell within a day, on the basis of what we had been doing, within a

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day, that this was an H7N7 virus, that was the first thing, and also that the virus came

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in principle from wild birds, because the ancestors of the virus, we had identified

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them in the years before in wild mallards, in wild ducks.

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Infecting animal populations must also be monitored.

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This is why a consortium of seven European countries, plus Hong Kong and the United States,

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has developed the SNIP project, to monitor influenza in pigs.

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There is concern that avian influenza viruses will transmit to swine, and then from swine

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to humans.

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It is possible that avian influenza viruses infect swine, this is well known, but usually

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it exists without consequences.

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Without consequences, but surveillance remains essential, because as the pig is genetically

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very close to man, it could provide a favourable environment for the avian virus to recombine

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with the human form.

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That's a long way off, but researchers know that three subtypes of the influenza virus,

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which are harmless to humans, are present in pig populations in Belgium, Germany, the

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Netherlands, Italy, France and Spain.

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Three subtypes, which the pig gets rid of very quickly, but which can cause it suffering.

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Many of those infections are without any disease, but the virus can cause severe respiratory

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problems, breathing difficulties, dyspnoea, coughing, fever and loss of weight.

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This is why it can be economically important for swine production, and why some swine farmers

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prefer to vaccinate against swine influenza.

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The European Union has invested and will continue to invest a lot of money in research in order

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to be able to respond immediately to the order of the day.

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Be ready.

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Ready with rapid diagnostic techniques, with a clear understanding of how the virus propagates,

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with the development of a vaccine and the monitoring of the health of vaccinated animals.

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And add to that the global monitoring of both wild animals and domestic ones.

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Learn more at www.isglobal.org