Avian influenza infection in birds – a moving target. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 2006;1:11–18

Avian influenza (AI) is a complex infection of birds, of which the ecology and epidemiology have undergone substantial changes over the last decade. Avian influenza viruses infecting poultry can be divided into two groups. The very virulent viruses cause highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), with flock mortality as high as 100%. These viruses have been restricted to subtypes H5 and H7, although not all H5 and H7 viruses cause HPAI. All other viruses cause a milder, primarily respiratory, disease (low pathogenic avian influenza, LPAI), unless exacerbated by other infections or environmental conditions. Until recently, HPAI viruses were rarely isolated from wild birds, but for LPAI viruses extremely high isolation rates have been recorded in surveillance studies, particularly in feral waterfowl. In recent years, there have been costly outbreaks of HPAI in poultry in Italy, the Netherlands and Canada and in each of these countries millions of birds wer