Influenza Pathogenesis and Control - Volume I

Kahn RE, Ma W, Richt JA, Robert E. Kahn, Wenjun Ma, Jürgen A. Richt, Kahn, Robert E., Ma, Wenjun, Richt, Jürgen A.

The challenge of increasing swineswine production and a rising number of novel and known swine influenzainfluenza viruses has prompted a considerable boost in research into how and why pigs have become such significant hosts for influenza viruses. The ecology of influenza A viruses is rather complicated, involving multiple host species and a segmented genome. Wild aquatic birds are the reservoir for the majority of influenza A viruses, but novel influenza viruses were recently identified in bats. Occasionally, influenza A viruses can be transmitted to mammals from avian species and this event could lead to the generation of human pandemic strains. SwineSwine are thought to be "mixing vesselsmixing vessels " because they are susceptible to infection with both avian and mammalian influenza viruses; and novel influenza viruses can be generated in pigs by reassortmentreassortment . At present, it is difficult to predict which viruses might cause a human pandemichuman pandemic . Therefore, both human and veterinary research needs to give more attention to the potential cross-species transmission capacity of influenza A viruses.