Surveillance for influenza A virus in poultry related environments in Jinhua, Zhejiang,2014

Objective To understand distribution of influenza A virus in poultry related environments in Jinhua, assess potential risk of human infection with avian influenza virus, and provide evidence for the for prevention and control of the disease. Methods The survey was conducted in 155 poultry related sites in Jinhua, and 6 types of environmental samples were collected for detection of influenza A virus with real-time PCR. The results were analyzed with SPSS 17.0. Results Influenza A virus was detected in 50.97% of the 155 poultry related sites. A total of 1445 samples collected from these sites were detected, the positive rate of influenza A virus was 26.44%. Among four types of poultry related sites, the positive rate in alive poultry markets was 33.60%, which was higher than that in large scale poultry farms, free range villages and wild migratory bird habitats (P 0.01). Among six types of environmental samples, the positive rates of poultry's internal organs, polluted water after washing poultry and smears of tools used for poultry processing were higher that those of poultry stool, poultry drinking water and smears of poultry cage surfaces (P 0.001). Influenza A virus was detected in the samples collected from all the 10 counties (district). The positive rate during winter-spring was higher than that during summer-autumn (2=46.490,P 0.01). There was no statistically difference in the positive rate in alive poultry markets between urban area and rural area (2=0.040, P 0.01). Conclusion Influenza A virus can be detected in alive poultry markets, in slaughtering process and during winter-spring in Jinhua. The potential risk of human infection with avian influenza virus exists. It is necessary to strengthen the management and supervision of alive poultry markets during winter-spring, such as quarantine, disinfection and market closure, and promote the selling of processed poultry products to reduce the incidence of human infection with avian influenza virus.