Avian Influenza H5N8 Outbreak in African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), Namibia, 2019

Umberto Molini; Gottlieb Aikukutu; Jean-Paul Roux; Jessica Kemper; Charles Ntahonshikira; Giuseppe Marruchella; Siegfried Khaiseb; Giovanni Cattoli; William G. Dundon

doi:10.7589/2019-03-067

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6 January 2020 Avian Influenza H5N8 Outbreak in African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), Namibia, 2019

Umberto Molini, Gottlieb Aikukutu, Jean-Paul Roux, Jessica Kemper, Charles Ntahonshikira, Giuseppe Marruchella, Siegfried Khaiseb, Giovanni Cattoli, William G. Dundon

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J. of Wildlife Diseases, 56(1):214-218 (2020). https://doi.org/10.7589/2019-03-067

Abstract

In January 2019, high mortalities were reported among African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus) in a breeding colony on Halifax Island, Namibia, Africa. Analysis of samples by reverse transcription quantitative PCR indicated the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N8. Sequence analysis of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes confirmed the presence of the virus in the birds and its high similarity to HPAI subtype H5N8 identified in South Africa in 2017. There have been no previous reports of HPAI H5N8 in Namibia.

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Umberto Molini, Gottlieb Aikukutu, Jean-Paul Roux, Jessica Kemper, Charles Ntahonshikira, Giuseppe Marruchella, Siegfried Khaiseb, Giovanni Cattoli, and William G. Dundon "Avian Influenza H5N8 Outbreak in African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), Namibia, 2019," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 56(1), 214-218, (6 January 2020). https://doi.org/10.7589/2019-03-067

Received: 20 March 2019; Accepted: 23 May 2019; Published: 6 January 2020

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