Transmission of low-pathogenicity avian influenza virus of subtype H6N2 from chickens to Pekin ducks and Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Sideview diagram of the experimental layout. The birds were sampled and handled in numerical order of Cage 1, Cage 2, Cage 3 and Cage 4, every day for 16 days.

Figure 2.  Cumulative incidence of H6N2 detection by rRT-PCR for each interspecies AIV-transmission trial.

Table 1.  Median time to AIV detection by RT-PCR

Cage	Bird species	Number of susceptible birds	Number of birds infected	Median days to detection	Range (days)	Mean rank
1	Chicken	10	10	3	2 to 7	5.65^A
2	Chicken	17	12	13	8 to 16	28.36^B
3	Quail	20	16	12	5 to 16	26.83^B
4	Duck	20	1	7^a	N/A	N/A
The time to detection of AIV in chickens in Cage 2 and in the quail (Cage 3) were not significantly different at a level of significance equal to 0.05 over all pairwise comparisons (cages with mean rank superscript uppercase letters in common were not significantly different). Time to detection in chickens in direct contact with inoculated birds was significantly different from Cages 2 and 3. ^aAIV was only detected in one duck on day 7.