FASTest® AIV Ag is a rapid immunochromatographic test for the qualitative detection of Avian Influenza Virus Type A antigen (subtypes H1-H15) in swab samples from cloaca, trachea, kidney or feces of birds.
Avian Influenza (Bird flu) is a notifiable disease in birds caused by Avian Influenza Virus Type A (family of Orthomyxoviridae) that infects chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, wild water birds and other birds world-wide.
Clinical symptoms are mild (decrease of egg production and / or fertility) up to highly pathogenic variants with sudden death cases. The classical avian influenza, caused by the subtypes H5 and H7, is considered to be the severe form of avian influenza. Moreover, H5N1 is considered as elicitor of the avian influenza (“bird flu”) in humans. In the classical avian influenza, the clinical symptoms develop suddenly and heavily (especially respiratory symptoms, bloody nasal and throat discharge as well as greenish diarrhoea, cyanoses and oedemata in the head region and on comb and wattles, changes in colour of thighs and feed due to ecchymosis) up to sudden deaths with mortality rates up to 100%.
FASTest® AIV Ag is suitable as screening test for the fast and simple detection of all AIV type A subtypes in suspicious poultry stocks. It is applicable on-site. This enables the veterinarian an on-site confirmation of the clinical suspicion as well as the immediate initiation of epizootic mandatory measures to prevent a threatening pandemic.