• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2013

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) has been known to induce interferon-${\gamma}$ (IFN-${\gamma}$) production and promote Th1 immunity. Although mammalian IL-18 has been characterized in great detail, the properties and application of chicken IL-18 remain largely uninvestigated as of yet. In this study, we evaluated the immunomodulatory properties of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium expressing chicken interleukin-18 (chIL-18) on immune responses induced by avian influenza (AI) and Newcastle disease (ND) vaccines. After oral administration of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium expressing chIL-18, chickens were vaccinated intramuscularly with the recommended dose of either inactivated AI H9N2 vaccine or ND (B1 strain) vaccine. Chickens receiving a primary vaccination were boosted using the same protocol 7 days later. Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses were evaluated in terms of HI antibody titers and proliferation and mRNA expression of IFN-${\gamma}$ and IL-4 of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in response to specific antigen stimulation. According to our results, oral administration of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium expressing chIL-18 induced enhanced humoral and Th1-biased cell-mediated immunity against AI and ND vaccines, compared to that of chickens received S. enterica serovar Typhimurium harboring empty vector. Therefore, we conclude that our proposed vaccination regimen using inactivated AI and ND viruses along with oral administration of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium expressing chIL-18 may provide a novel approach in protecting chicken from currently circulating AI and ND virus strains.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2007

Cause of high lethality and dissemination to human being, new development of rapid method for the detection of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) is still necessary. For the detection of AIV subtype H5N1, typical pathogenic AIV, new method to confirm sub-typing of this virus is also needed. For the purpose of ultra-rapid detection and sub-typing of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase of AIV, this study was planned. As the results we could demonstrate an ultra-rapid multiplex real-time PCR (URMRT PCR) for the detection of AIV In this study, the URMRT PCR were optimized with synthesized AIV H5- and AIV Nl-specific DNA templates and GenSpector TMC, which is a semiconductor process technology based real-time PCR system with high frequencies of temperature monitoring. Under eight minutes, the amplifications of two AIV subtype-specific PCR products were successfully and independently detected by 30 cycled ultra-rapid PCR, including melting point analysis, from $1{\times}10^3$ copies of mixed template DNA. The URMRT PCR for the detection of AIV H5N 1 developed in this study could be expected to apply not only detections of different AIVs, but also various pathogens. It was also discussed that this kind of the fastest PCR based detection method could be improved by advance of related technology in near future.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.254-265
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• 2018

Avian influenza recently damaged the poultry industry, which suffered a huge economic loss reaching billions of U.S. dollars in South Korea. Transmission routes of the pathogens would help plan to control and limit the spread of the devastating biological tragedy. Phylogenetic analyses of pathogen's DNA sequences could sketch transmission trees relating hosts with directed edges. The last decade has seen the methodological development of inferring transmission trees using epidemiological as well as genetic data. Here, I reanalyzed the DNA sequence data that had originated in the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 outbreak of South Korea in 2014. The H5N8 viruses spread geographically contiguously from the origin of the outbreak, Jeonbuk. The Jeonbuk origin viruses were known to spread to four provinces neighboring Jeonbuk. I estimated the transmission tree of the host domestic and migratory wild birds after combining multiple runs of Markov chain Monte Carlo using a Bayesian method for inferring transmission trees. The estimated transmission tree, albeit with a rather large uncertainty in the directed edges, showed that the viruses spread from Jeonbuk through Chungnam to Gyeonggi. Domestic birds of breeder or broiler ducks were estimated to appear to be at the terminal nodes of the transmission tree. This observation confirmed that migratory wild birds played an important role as one of the main infection mediators in the avian influenza H5N8 outbreak of South Korea in 2014.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2005

Avian influenza (AI) virus (AIV) is distributed worldwide and it has been isolated from various species of wild and domestic birds. AI transfers with high speed and shows diverse pathogenicity syndroms. In Korea, several low Pathogenic AIV, H9N2, have been isolated from the commercial farms with severe decrease of egg production and mortality resulted in severe economic loss since 1996. Therefore, it has been requested to develop AI vaccines to prevent clinical signs and economic losses from the field infection of AIV. To develop a killed vaccine that efficiently prevents low pathogenic AIV (H9N2), evaluation on the pathogenicity and selection of an inactivator for H9N2 is taking place and is being tested safety and immunogenicity of vaccine produced. Based on the pathogenicity test and viral reisolation test, the ADL0401 isolate is the characteristic low pathogenic AIVs and has fairly similar biologic functions compared with MS96 which is the official low pathogenic AIV (H9N2) and one of the predominant AIV isolated from poultry farms in Korea. In antigenicity tests, the ADL0401 and MS96 virus have no significant antigenic difference. In inactivation tests, the ADL0401 isolates can be easily inactivated with $0.1\%$ Formalin at $37^{\circ}C$ within 1 hour with a little decrease of HA titer. The vaccine developed in the present report has no harmful effect on bird and forms good immune capability. Therefore, the isolates, ADL0401 can be used for a killed vaccine which can reduce the clinical signs and viral shedding in the birds infected with H9N2 low pathogenic AIVs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.405-411
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• 2011

Avian influenza virus vaccines produced in oil-emulsified inactivated form with antigen content of at least 160 hemagglutinin units (HAU) induced immunity in birds. However, in addition to enhancing the effect of the adjuvant(s), other additional supplemented biological compounds included in inactivated vaccines could produce higher levels of antibody. We examined in chickens, Vietnamese ducks, and muscovy ducks the adjuvant effect of Sophy ${\beta}$-glucan (SBG), a ${\beta}$-1,3-1,6 glucan produced by the black yeast Aureobasidium pollulans strain AF0-202, when administered with an avian influenza H5 subtype vaccine. In Experiment 1, 40 chickens (ISA Brown hybrid), allocated to four groups of ten each, were immunized with Oil-H5N1(VN), Oil-H5N1(CN), Oil-H5N2(CN), and saline (control group), respectively. In Experiment 2, chickens (ISA Brown hybrid), muscovy ducks (French hybrid), and Vietnamese ducks (indigenous Vietnamese) were used to further assess the effect of SBG on immunogenicity of the Oil-H5N1(VN) Vietnamese vaccine. ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays were used to assess the antibody response. The H5 subtype vaccines initiated significantly higher immune responses in the animals dosed with SBG, with 1.0-1.5 $log_2$ higher HI titers and 10-20% ELISA seroconversion, compared with those not dosed with ${\beta}$-glucan. Notably, some of the animals dosed with SBG induced HI titers higher than 9.0 $log_2$ following boosting immunization. Taken together, our serial studies indicated that SBG is a potential effector, such as enhancing the immune response to the H5 vaccines tested.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.43.1-43.10
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• 2021

Background: The H5 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) of clade 2.3.4.4 circulate in wild and domestic birds worldwide. In 2017, nine strains of H5N6 AIVs were isolated from aquatic poultry in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the origin, reassortment, and mutations of the AIV isolates. Methods: AIVs were isolated from oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs of poultry. Identification was accomplished by inoculating isolates into embryonated chicken eggs and performing hemagglutination tests and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The viral genomes were amplified with RT-PCR and then sequenced. The sequence alignment, phylogenetic, and molecular characteristic analyses were performed by using bioinformatic software. Results: Nine isolates originated from the same ancestor. The viral HA gene belonged to clade 2.3.4.4B, while the NA gene had a close phylogenetic relationship with the 2.3.4.4C H5N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) isolated from shoveler ducks in Ningxia in 2015. The NP gene was grouped into an independent subcluster within the 2.3.4.4B H5N8 AIVs, and the remaining six genes all had close phylogenetic relationships with the 2.3.4.4B H5N8 HPAIVs isolated from the wild birds in China, Egypt, Uganda, Cameroon, and India in 2016-2017, Multiple basic amino acid residues associated with HPAIVs were located adjacent to the cleavage site of the HA protein. The nine isolates comprised reassortant 2.3.4.4B HPAIVs originating from 2.3.4.4B H5N8 and 2.3.4.4C H5N6 viruses in wild birds. Conclusions: These results suggest that the Northern Tianshan Mountain wetlands in Xinjiang may have a key role in AIVs disseminating from Central China to the Eurasian continent and East African.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.78.1-78.6
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• 2023

Avian-origin H3N2 canine influenza A viruses (CIVs) have become enzootic in China and Korea and have sporadically transmitted to North America, causing multiple epidemics. We isolated six CIVs in Korea from CIV-infected patients during 2014-2017 and conducted whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. Results revealed that CIVs have circulated and evolved in Korea since the early 2000s and then diversified into a new clade, probably contributing to multiple epidemics in China, the USA, and Canada. Our findings bridge an evolutionary gap for understanding the global transmission of CIVs, emphasizing the significance of continuous monitoring of CIVs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.704-713
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• 2014

The highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) viruses of the H5N1 subtype infect poultry and have also been spreading to humans. Although new antiviral drugs and vaccinations can be effective, rapid detection would be more efficient to control the outbreak of infections. In this study, a phage-display library was applied to select antibody fragments for HPAI strain A/Hubei/1/2010. As a result, three clones were selected and sequenced. A hemagglutinin inhibition assay of the three scFvs revealed that none exhibited hemagglutination inhibition activity towards the H5N1 virus, yet they showed a higher binding affinity for several HPAI H5N1 strains compared with other influenza viruses. An ELISA confirmed that the HA protein was the target of the scFvs, and the results of a protein structure simulation showed that all the selected scFvs bound to the HA2 subunit of the HA protein. In conclusion, the three selected scFVs could be useful for developing a specific detection tool for the surveillance of HPAI epidemic strains.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2017

Six major outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) occurred from 2003 to 2016 in Korea. Epidemiological investigations of each outbreak revealed that migratory birds were the primary source of the HPAI virus. During the last five years, the geographic transmission pattern of domestic HPAI seems to have extended from local to nationwide; therefore, it is necessary to identify specific locations in which poultry farms are at elevated risk for HPAI outbreak to enable targeted surveillance and other mitigation strategies. Here, a geographical information system (GIS)-based analysis was used to identify geographic areas at high risk for future HPAI incidents in Korea based on historical outbreak data collected between December 2003 and April 2016. To accomplish this, seven criteria were used to identify areas at high-risk for HPAI occurrence. The first three criteria were based on defined spatial criteria buffering of 200 bird migration sites to some defined extents and the historical incidence of HPAI outbreaks at the buffering sites. The remaining criteria were based on combined attribute information such as number of birds or farms at district levels. Based on the criteria established for this study, the most-likely areas at higher risk for HPAI outbreak were located in Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gyeonggi, and Gyeongnam provinces, which are densely populated poultry regions considered major poultry-production areas that are located along bird migration sites. The proportion of areas at risk for HPAI occurrence ranged from 4.5% to 64.9%. For the worst criteria, all nine provinces, including Jeju Island, were found to be at risk of HPAI. The results of this study indicate that the number of poultry farms at risk for HPAI outbreaks is largely underestimated by current regulatory risk assessment procedures conducted for biosecurity authorization. The HPAI risk map generated in this study will enable easy use of information by policy makers to identify surveillance zones and employ targeted surveillance to reduce the impact of HPAI transmission.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2020

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and avian influenza (AI) are highly pathogenic viral disease which affects the livestock industry worldwide. Outbreak of these viruses causes great impact in the livestock industry; thus, disease infected animals were immediately disposed. Burial is the commonly used disposal method for deceased animals. However, there is potential for secondary environmental contamination, as well as the risk that infectious agents persisting in the environment due to the limited environmental controls in livestock burial sites during the decomposition of the carcasses. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the detection of FMD and AI viruses from animal carcass disposal sites using real-time reverse transcription PCR. Soil samples of more than three years post-burial from livestock carcass disposal sites were collected and processed RNA isolation using a commercial extraction kit. The isolated RNA of the samples was used for the detection of FMDV and AIV using qRT-PCR. Based on the qPCR assay result, no viral particle was detected in the soil samples collected from the animal disposal sites. This indicates that 3 years of burial and their carcass disposal method is efficient for the control or at least reduction of spread infections in the surrounding environment.