Seroepidemiological investigation of influenza type A (a zoonotic disease) in native turkeys in East Azerbaijan

Influenza is one of the acute respiratory viral diseases. The purpose of this study was seroepidemiology of type A flu in native turkeys in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. During 18 months, 350 blood samples were taken randomly from the turkey flocks in East-Azerbaijan, Iran. The collected sera were stored at -70°C for further analyses. To determine the influenza antibody level, the Haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and single radial immunodiffusion (SRD) tests were performed. Firstly, the mean HI titers of each flock and area were recorded separately, which subsequently compared with the SRD data. Interestingly, all of the serum samples were negative for the H5 and H7 antigens. However, some of them were positive for H9. There were significant differences in the mean titers of HI in vaccinated and non-vaccinated herds against influenza, different age groups, and the flocks with and without clinical symptoms (p ˂ 0.05). Taken to gather, it seems that vaccination against influenza virus and an increase in age can increase serum titration of influenza virus. Regarding the presence of influenza virus in the turkey flocks with the various antigenic features and high mutation rate, it should be considered in relation to public health.