Avian influenza is a group of infectious diseases in birds caused by avian-adapted influenza A viruses (Orthomyxoviridae), characterized by segmented, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genomes and diverse hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) subtypes. Strains are classified as low or highly pathogenic based on molecular determinants, particularly in the hemagglutinin cleavage site, and associated clinical severity in poultry. Research topics include viral ecology in wild waterfowl reservoirs, transmission dynamics at the wildlife–poultry–human interface, molecular evolution and reassortment, host-range restriction mechanisms, immune escape, and risk assessment for zoonotic spillover and pandemic potential.
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