Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Coinfecting Pathogens: A Review of Experimental Infections in Avian Models.

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Low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) usually causes mild disease or asymptomatic infection in poultry. LPAIV has, however, become a great threat to poultry industry due to mixed infections with other pathogens. Coinfections do frequently occur in the field but are not easily detected, and their impact on pathobiology is not clearly defined due to their complicated nature, but it is well known that there is an impact. One way to increase our knowledge of coinfections in poultry is to challenge birds in experimental and controlled conditions. While many articles report in vivo experiments with LPAIV in avian models, only a few have studied coinfections. Moreover, researchers tend to choose different bird types, ages, inoculation routes, and doses for their experiments, making it difficult to compare between studies. This review describes the state of the art for experimental infections with LPAIV alone or associated with coinfecting pathogens in avian models. It also discusses how best to mimic field infections in laboratory settings. In the field of avian diseases, experimental design is obviously directly linked with the research question addressed, but there is a gap between field and experimental data, and further studies are warranted to better understand how to bring laboratory settings closer to field situations.