Avian chlamydiosis is one of the most important infectious diseases of birds. Despite the rapid growth of exotic bird populations in Iran, there is little or no information on the specific infections that these types of birds carry. In this study, conventional isolation methods were used in cell culture to study occurrence of infection in pet birds. Samples from the conjunctiva, choana, and clo...

While avian chronic haemoparasite infections induce reproductive costs, infection has not previously been shown to affect survival. Here, we experimentally reduced, through medication, the intensity of infection by Haemoproteus parasites in wild-breeding female blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus. However, this treatment did not reduce the intensity of infection in males or the intensity of infection...

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium Sequence Type (ST) 313 is a major cause of invasive non-Typhoidal salmonellosis in sub-Saharan Africa. No animal reservoir has been identified, and it has been suggested that ST313 is adapted to humans and transmission may occur via person-to-person spread. Here, we show that ST313 cause severe invasive infection in chickens as well as humans. Oral infect...

The main tenet of immunoecology is that individual variation in immune responsiveness is caused by the costs of immune responses to the hosts. Oxidative damage resulting from the excessive production of reactive oxygen species during immune response is hypothesized to form one of such costs. We tested this hypothesis in experimental coccidian infection model in greenfinches Carduelis chloris. A...

The effects of vitamin A (VitA) deficiency on the host intestinal immune response and disease susceptibility to coccidiosis were investigated in broiler chickens following oral infection with Eimeria acervulina (EA). Day-old male broilers were fed milo-soybean meal diets either with 8,000 IU VitA/kg feed (CONT) or without added VitA (A-DEF). At 25 d, a group of randomly selected birds from each...

Migrating waterfowl are implicated in the global spread of influenza A viruses (IAVs), and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) are considered a particularly important IAV reservoir. Prevalence of IAV infection in waterfowl peaks during autumn pre-migration staging and then declines as birds reach wintering areas. Migration is energetically costly and birds often experience declines in body condition ...

Background & Aims: The H9N2 avian influenza subtype is endemic in many parts of Iran and has the ability to transmit from bird to human. In the present study, the risk of this subtype for humans was assessed by determination of the viral titer and shedding time in bird. Method: The experiment was done on fifteen male budgerigars at 4 months of age. The birds w...

Background & Aims: The H9N2 avian influenza subtype is endemic in many parts of Iran and has the ability to transmit from bird to human. In the present study, the risk of this subtype for humans was assessed by determination of the viral titer and shedding time in bird. Method: The experiment was done on fifteen male budgerigars at 4 months of age. The birds were inoculated intranasally with al...

We introduce a model of avian influenza in domestic birds with imperfect vaccination and age-since-vaccination structure. The model has four components: susceptible birds, vaccinated birds (stratified by vaccination age), asymptomatically infected birds, and infected birds. The model includes reduction in the probability of infection, decreasing severity of disease of vaccinated birds and vacci...

Abstract Anthropogenic transformation of natural biocenoses has an impact on ecological niches and zoocultives living in them. The number domestic birds can now include many species birds, one way or another changed by man, including prey, protected purposefully bred. Falconiformes occupied a special place the cultural traditions different countries peoples. paper considers aspects biological f...