Dogs are highly susceptible to H5N1 avian influenza virus

Replication of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in dogs may facilitate their adaptation in humans, however, the data to date on H5N1 influenza virus infection in dogs are conflicting To elucidate the susceptibility of dogs to this pathogen, we infected two groups of 6 beagles with 10(6) 50% egg-infectious dose of H5N1 AIV A/bar-headed goose/Qinghai/3/05 (BHG/QH/3/05) intranasally (i n.) and intratracheally (i t.), respectively The dogs showed disease symptoms, including anorexia, fever, conjunctivitis, labored breathing and cough, and one it inoculated animal died on day 4 post-infection Virus shedding was detected from all 6 animals inoculated i.n and one inoculated it Virus replication was detected in all animals that were euthanizecl on day 3 or day 5 post-infection and in the animal that died on day 4 post-infection Our results demonstrate that dogs are highly susceptible to H5N1 AIV and may serve as an intermediate host to transfer this virus to humans (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved