ABSTRACT
Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been occurring in domestic poultry in Asia since 1996. In the beginning of 2004, HPAI outbreaks were caused by H5N1 virus in two farms and a group of pet chickens in different areas of Japan. In the present study, the pathogenicity of A/chicken/Yamaguchi/7/04 (H5N1), which had been isolated from a dead chicken during the first outbreak in Japan, was assessed in chickens, quails, budgerigars, ducklings, mice, and miniature pigs by experimental infection. The virus was highly pathogenic to all the birds tested. Mice were susceptible to infection with a low mortality rate and miniature pigs were resistant to infection with the virus.
Subject(s)
Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype/pathogenicity , Influenza in Birds/virology , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/virology , Animals , Antibodies, Viral/blood , Brain/pathology , Chickens , Ducks , Female , Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype/immunology , Influenza in Birds/immunology , Influenza in Birds/pathology , Japan , Melopsittacus , Mice , Quail , Species Specificity , Swine , Swine, MiniatureABSTRACT
We report the observation of periodic 180 degrees stripe domains below the ferroelectric transition in thin films. Epitaxial PbTiO3 films of thickness d=1.6 to 42 nm on SrTiO3 substrates were studied using x-ray scattering. Upon cooling below T(C), satellites appeared around Bragg peaks indicating the presence of 180 degrees stripe domains of period Lambda=3.7 to 24 nm. The dependence of Lambda on d agrees well with theory including epitaxial strain effects, while the suppression of T(C) for thinner films is significantly larger than that expected solely from stripe domains.