Webster. by using the neutralization assay. More importantly, the results suggested that pheasants can serve as a reservoir of influenza computer virus. Because of their Demeclocycline HCl continuous asymptomatic contamination and longer stay in the markets, pheasants are ideal carriers of influenza A viruses. Their continued presence in live markets contributes to the perpetuation and Jag1 genetic conversation of influenza viruses there. On the basis of our findings, it does not make good sense to ban quail but not pheasants from the live markets. Influenza A viruses are a major disease problem in birds and humans as well as in some lower mammals. Since the first reported isolation of influenza A computer virus from wild birds in 1961, influenza A viruses have been isolated from 90 avian species representing 12 of the 50 orders of birds (2, 35). In waterfowl, almost every combination of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase subtypes have been isolated; the most common subtypes are H3, H4, and H6 (11, 17). Therefore, wild aquatic birds, such as ducks and geese, serve as the natural reservoir for influenza A viruses. A growing body of evidence shows that stable lineages of influenza viruses are being established in chickens. In domestic poultry, such as chickens, the most prominent influenza A viruses include the H3, H5, H6, H7, and H9 subtypes (18). The emergence of influenza A viruses that threaten both human and veterinary public health continues to concern us. The H2, H5, H7, and H9 subtypes are considered to have high pandemic potential, but all 16 subtypes may possess this potential (41). The threat posed by the continuing evolution and interspecies transmission of H5N1 influenza viruses became apparent in 1997, when 6 of 18 infected humans died in Hong Kong (6). This incident marked the first time that H5N1 avian influenza A viruses had been transmitted directly to humans. The viruses came from poultry in the live animal markets (wet markets), which have more recently been identified as breeding grounds for both influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome corona Demeclocycline HCl computer virus (3, 28, 30, 42). Live bird retail markets are widespread throughout Southeast Asia and also operate in some U.S. cities. These markets house both terrestrial and aquatic birds such as chickens, pigeons, ducks, geese, quail, pheasants, chukar partridges, and guinea fowl. Chickens and pigeons are the predominant Demeclocycline HCl species sold. This mix of birds provides the ideal conditions for interspecies transmission and?propagation of influenza A viruses. After the 1997 H5N1 incident in Hong Kong, ducks and geese, the primary sources of influenza computer virus, were removed from the markets, imported separately, and sold killed and chilled. Practices in Hong Kong’s Demeclocycline HCl live poultry markets were further changed after the H5N1 computer virus reemerged in 2001 and 2002 (32). During these later outbreaks, researchers decided that quail support the replication of at Demeclocycline HCl least 14 of the 15 HA subtypes of influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses of the H1 and H3 subtypes (19). However, minor poultry (pheasants, chukar partridges, and guinea fowl) are still sold in the live bird markets; because of their higher price, they tend to stay in these markets longer than other poultry, such as chickens, that remain in the markets only a day or two (8). Limited reports indicate that influenza A viruses can replicate in these minor poultry species. An avian influenza computer virus of the H5N2 subtype was isolated from a lifeless pen-raised chukar partridge during a wildlife survey conducted after an outbreak of lethal avian influenza in 1983 in Pennsylvania (21). The H5N2 computer virus (A/Chicken/Pennsylvania/1370/83 [A/CK/PA/1370/83]) isolated from a chicken during this outbreak was later used to experimentally inoculate ducks, gulls, and pheasants (45). In this experiment, all birds were susceptible to contamination with A/CK/PA/1370/83. Pheasants shed the computer virus in feces for up to 15 days, although most showed no clinical indicators of disease, and those that did show signs recovered within 2 times (45). In another scholarly study, influenza A disease from the H9N2 subtype was isolated from adult ring-necked pheasants for the first seven days after experimental inoculation, and it.