Sequence Variation in Molecular Diagnosis Target of Influenza Virus Type A
February 13rd, 2009
Garcia N., Perez-Sancho M., Alvarez J., Gonzalez S., Martinez I., Gomez S., Dominguez L. and Goyache J.
Poster communication in International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance 2009
Avian Influenza (AI) is a significant infectious disease caused by Influenza virus type A, which belongs to the Family Orthomixoviridae. Its genome consists of eight single-stranded segments, negative-sense RNA, which encodes 10 or 11 proteins. The high nucleotide substitution rate for this type of viruses allows them to a rapid adaptation to new environments and hosts, even crossing the species barrier. This could explain, at least in part, the high prevalence of these agents and their definition as emerging or re-emerging pathogens. Moreover, this high genetic variability could affect molecular diagnosis methods.
