Avian Influenza Viruses: Infection and Prevention

Dear Colleagues,

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) pose an increasing threat to birds and public health. In the past two decades, the highly pathogenic H5Nx, H7N7, and H7N9 viruses that circulated in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America have caused thousands of outbreaks and led to severe economic loss. Since 2020, the emerged H5N8 viruses infected wild and domestic birds, leading to over 3200 outbreaks in Europe, Asia, Africa. These emerged H5N8 viruses continued to reassort with the viruses that pooled in wild birds and produced the reassorted H5N1, H5N2, H5N5, and H5N6 progeny viruses. From 2021 to date, the H5N1 viruses that originated from the H5N8 viruses have been the predominant subtype of H5Nx viruses in global wild birds and poultry. The H7N9 viruses that emerged in China in 2013 have mutated to become highly pathogenic viruses, and they have caused more than 1500 human infections. The low-pathogenic H9N2 viruses continued to evolve in poultry and have led to nearly one hundred human infections in China since 1998. The development of vaccines is an effective strategy to prevent the emerged avian influenza viruses from infecting domestic birds, and thus, to contribute towards the elimination of human infections. Therefore, there is a great need to better understand the infections of avian influenza viruses in birds and mammals, as well as the recent development of an antiviral strategy to prevent avian influenza virus infection. 

The aim of this Special Issue of Vaccines is to focus on the recent scientific and technical progresses made in the field of avian influenza virus infection and prevention. In this Special Issue, original articles, observation, or review on (but not limited to) the following topics are welcome:

• Surveillance and epidemiology;
• Evolution and genetic mutations;
• Cross-species infections and pathogenesis;
• Antigenicity and vaccine development;
• Interaction of viruses and host factors.

Prof. Dr. Xuyong Li
Guest Editor

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• avian influenza viruses
• circulation
• evolution
• infection
• pathogenicity
• transmission
• vaccines
• anti-viral strategies
• animal model
• host factors