Prevalence of antibodies to influenza viruses among handlers of live pigs at three locations in Ibadan, Nigeria

The authors investigated the prevalence of haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies to four strains of influenza viruses among handlers of live pigs in Ibadan, Nigeria. Venous blood specimens were collected from thirty pig handlers (out of a total of forty-eight) at three locations in Ibadan in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Johnson A. Adeniji, Oluwagbenga A. Adeola
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale 2010-06-01
Series:Veterinaria Italiana
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.izs.it/vet_italiana/2010/46_2/147.pdf
Description
Summary:The authors investigated the prevalence of haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibodies to four strains of influenza viruses among handlers of live pigs in Ibadan, Nigeria. Venous blood specimens were collected from thirty pig handlers (out of a total of forty-eight) at three locations in Ibadan in April and May 2008. The overall prevalence of antibodies to influenza viruses was 100%, while those of influenza A and B viruses were 68.3% and 58.3%, respectively. The prevalence of influenza A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1), A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2), B/Shanghai/361/2002-like and B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like was 46.7%, 90.0%, 76.7% and 40.0%, respectively. A total of 96.7% (n = 30) of pig handlers tested had polytypic influenza antibody reactions. This is the first report to document the prevalence of influenza antibodies among pig handlers in Nigeria and shows that humans who have regular and direct contact with live pigs in Ibadan are exposed to different strains of influenza viruses.
ISSN:0505-401X
1828-1427