Zoonotic studies on influenza in pigs and birds, India, 1980-81

Five hundred and twenty pig sera collected from Pune, Maharashtra State, India during 1980 were examined in Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI) tests to determine the antibody prevalence to nine human influenza virus strains covering the subtypes A(HON1), A(H1N1), A(H2N2), A(H3N2), type B and one swine influenza virus strain A(Hsw1N1). This study indicated considerable prevalence of antibodies to the four H3N2 strains isolated from 1973 onwards, particularly to the two recent H3N2 strains, limited prevalence of antibodies to H1N1 strain and absence of antibodies to the Hsw1N1 and HON1 influenza strains in the pig sera. Three hundred and eleven cloacal swab specimens collected from different species of domestic and wild birds from Kolar district, Karnataka State, India during 1980 and 1981 were investigated for influenza virus prevalence. No influenza virus was isolated from any of the specimen, but one strain of Newcastle disease virus was isolated from a chicken.