Serological Survey of Avian Influenza virus H5, H7 and H9 subtypes in Live Birds Markets of Ardabil city in Iran

Influenza is one of the most important infectious viral diseases of birds, which causes huge economic losses to the poultry industry of countries every year and it is very important in terms of public health viewpoint. Different species of birds as reservoirs and vectors can cause spread the virus to other poultry, especially industrial poultry and humane societies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to survey seroprevalence of H5, H7 and H9 subtypes of avian influenza virus in live bird’s markets of Ardabil city, northwest of Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to August of 2023. In this study, 108 blood serum samples were randomly collected from different bird species in live bird’s markets at different regions of Ardabil. The hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test was performed on the serum samples to detect H5, H7 and H9 subtypes of influenza virus and sera with titers ≥4 (log2) were considered positive. Out of 108 birds sampled, 20 birds (18.9%) were sero-positive for H9N2 subtype of influenza virus. All tested sera were negative for H5N1, H5N2, H7N1 and H7N7 avian influenza viruses. Among bird species, the highest seroprevalence H9N2 virus was in chicken (25%) and turkey (22.7%), respectively and the lowest seroprevalence was in pheasant and partridge (0 %), respectively. The results of this study show seroprevalence of H9N2 influenza virus and its circulation in different species of birds of live birds markets.