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Article: Avian influenza H5N1 in tigers and leopards.(Dispatches)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- December 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Influenza virus is not known to affect wild felids. We demonstrate that avian influenza A (H5N1) virus caused severe pneumonia in tigers and leopards that fed on infected poultry carcasses. This finding extends the host range of influenza virus and has implications for influenza virus and wildlife conservation.
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The Study
The 2003-2004 avian influenza A (H5N1) virus outbreak in Southeast Asia resulted in 24 reports of fatal human cases (May 12, 2004) due to direct transmission of the virus from birds to humans. During the H5N1 virus outbreak in Thailand in December 2003 (1), two tigers (Panthera tigris) and two leopards (P. pardus) at ...