Avishai Lublin

• DVM, PhD
• Principal Investigator at Kimron Veterinary Institute

The feedback between host behavior and disease transmission is well acknowledged, but empirical studies demonstrating associations between individual’s pathogens or microbiota composition and their movement are rare. We investigated these associations in feral pigeons ( Columba livia domestica ), a synanthrope species known to host a plethora of zo...

In recent years, new avian reovirus (ARV) variants caused a variety of symptoms in chickens worldwide, the most important of which was Viral arthritis/tenosynovitis which caused substantial economic losses and has become a concern to the worldwide chicken industry. In this study, we characterized emerging ARV variants in Israel and analyzed their g...

The History of Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Israel

Composting poultry carcasses and the infected litter is considered feasible during mass depopulation events in response to disease outbreaks. We demonstrate the effect of temperature (40, 50, 60 °C) and aerobic/anaerobic conditions on the degradation of broiler carcasses and broiler litter (BL) and the elimination of pre-inoculated Avian flu and Ne...

Avian reovirus (ARV) is a common pathogen in chickens and other birds causing a variety of clinical symptoms such as arthritis and tenosynovitis but also enteric and respiratory symptoms. A rapid method that detects as many ARV genotypes as possible, will contribute to the early identification and control of the virus infection that causes high eco...

Avian influenza viruses (AIV) are a worldwide threat to animal and human health. As wild waterfowl circulate and spread these viruses around the world, investigations of AIV prevalence in wild populations are critical for understanding pathogen transmission, as well as predicting disease outbreaks in domestic animals and humans. Surveillance effort...

In order to evaluate the contribution of different wild bird species to West Nile virus (WNV) circulation in Israel, during the months preceding the 2018 outbreak that occurred in Israel, we randomly sampled 136 frozen carcasses of a variety of avian species. Visceral and central nervous system (CNS) tissue pools were tested using WNV NS2A RT qPCR...

The devastating impact of infectious bronchitis (IB) triggered by the IB virus (IBV), on poultry farms is generally curbed by livestock vaccination with live attenuated or inactivated vaccines. Yet, this approach is challenged by continuously emerging variants and by time limitations of vaccine preparation techniques. This work describes the design...

The devastating impact of infectious bronchitis (IB) triggered by the IB virus (IBV), on poultry farms is generally curbed by livestock vaccination with live attenuated or inactivated vaccines. Yet, this approach is challenged by continuously emerging variants and by time limitations of vaccine preparation techniques. This work describes the design...

Studies in both humans and model organisms suggest that the microbiome may play a significant role in host health, including digestion and immune function. Microbiota can offer protection from exogenous pathogens through colonization resistance, but microbial dysbiosis in the gastrointestinal tract can decrease resistance and is associated with pat...

This case report describes Salmonella enteritidis in a zoo colony of Siamang Gibbon Monkeys (Symphalangus syndactylus), in Israel, where 3 out of 4 monkeys in the group died within 48 hours with severe gastrointestinal signs. Post mortem findings included fibrinonecrotic typhlocolitis, necrohemorrhagic colitis and acute necrohemorrhagic typhlocolit...

Broiler litter (BL), a by-product of broiler meat production, is frequently contaminated with Salmonella and other zoonotic pathogens. To ensure the safety of crop production chains and limit pathogen spread in the environment, a pre-treatment is desired before further agricultural utilization. The objective of this study was to characterize the ef...

Short-term on-site composting of poultry carcasses and broiler litter (BL) is considered as a feasible technology for pathogen elimination during events of mass mortality in poultry houses. However, factors related to mass losses and physical transformation of the poultry carcass, and associated emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and od...

Background In this report we describe the molecular and pathological characteristics of West Nile virus (WNV) infection that occurred during the summer and fall of 2018 in avian species and equines. WNV is reported in Israel since the 1950s, with occasional outbreaks leading to significant morbidity and mortality in birds, high infection in horses...

Animals generally benefit from their gastrointestinal microbiome, but the factors that influence the composition and dynamics of their microbiota remain poorly understood. Studies of nonmodel host species can illuminate how microbiota and their hosts interact in natural environments. We investigated the role of migratory behaviour in shaping the gu...

As at 12 November 2018, an outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) was responsible for 139 WNV infection cases in Israel. Here, we characterise the epidemiology of the outbreak and demonstrate that only WNV lineage I was circulating in mosquitoes and responsible for WNV infection in humans. This suggests that the concurrence of the outbreak in Israel wit...

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a major cause of infectious mortality and morbidity in poultry worldwide. It is an enveloped virus with two outer-membrane proteins—hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion protein (F)—that induce neutralizing antibodies. All NDV strains belong to one serotype. Yet, NDV vaccines, derived from genotype II, do not...

Avian Malaria is a vector borne disease caused by protozoan blood parasites of the genus Plasmodium, transmitted exclusively by mosquitoes (Culicidae) to a variety of birds. However, a few avian groups, including penguins (Sphenisciformes), are considered highly susceptible and may develop severe disease when exposed to these parasites. Clinical si...

The transmission tree of the Israeli 2015 epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) was modelled by combining the spatio-temporal distribution of the outbreaks and the genetic distance between virus isolates. The most likely successions of transmission events were determined and transmission parameters were estimated. It was found that t...

An adult female bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in the Tel Aviv Uni- versity Research Zoo was found dead without previous clinical signs. The predominant path- ologic changes were considerable bloody content in the intestines and enlargement of the liver, which had a rubbery consistency with color changes. Microscopic lesions consisted of multi...

Avian reovirus (ARV) is a disease-causing agent. The disease is prevented by vaccination with a genotype-specific vaccine while many variants of ARV exist in the field worldwide. Production of new attenuated vaccines is a long-term process and in the case of fast-mutating viruses, an impractical one. In the era of molecular biology, vaccines may be...

The ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) is a medium-sized chestnut-colored diving duck that inhabits wetlands of Europe and Asia. In recent years, this species has been declining throughout much of Europe-a decline that is attributed mainly to destruction of natural habitats, and to hunting and pollution. The ferruginous duck is listed as "near threat...

Contaminated table eggs are considered a primary source of foodborne salmonellosis globally. Recently, a single clone of Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis emerged in Israel and became the predominant serovar isolated in poultry. This clone is currently the most prevalent strain in poultry and is the leading cause of salmonellosis in humans. Beca...

A free-ranging Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) found lying in a feeding station in the Golan Heights region of Israel was admitted to the Israeli Wildlife Hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel. The adult female vulture presented weak, cachectic, and standing on her tarsometatarsi. She had green diarrhea on her feathers and around her cloaca, a distended crop...

Successful conscious sedation in wildlife veterinary medicine contributes significantly to the efficient and effective care of avian patients, provided in a safe environment for wildlife handlers. Great White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) on bi-annual migrations between Europe and Africa commonly arrive at the Israeli Wildlife Hospital (IWH) for...

To establish and compare normal ocular parameters between and within diurnal and nocturnal raptor groups. Eighty-eight ophthalmically normal raptors of six nocturnal and 11 diurnal species were studied. Tear production was measured using Schirmer tear test (STT) and phenol red thread test (PRTT), and applanation tonometry was conducted. Ultrasonogr...

Several outbreaks of severe purulent blepharo-conjunctivitis were observed sporadically in ostrich (Struthio camelus) and chicken flocks in Israel during the years 2008-2011. During these outbreaks of conjunctivitis in the ostriches, 30-70% present in the feed lot was affected. The acute muco-purulent conjunctivitis was followed in most of cases by...

Newcastle disease is a contagious and often fatal disease, capable of affecting all species of birds. A velogenic Newcastle disease virus (vNDV) outbreak occurred in an Israeli zoo, in which Little owls (Athene noctua) and African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) were found positive for presence of NDV. Some of them have died. The diagnostic process...

Birds are most susceptible to infection by avian reovirus, genus Orthoreovirus family Reoviridae, at a young age. Although chicks are protected by antibodies transferred from vaccinated maternal flocks, due to the many variants in the field, the efficiency of the vaccines is limited. The level of antibodies against viruses is generally determined b...

DABSE, a database for avian blood spot examination for exposure to toxicants, is a new biomonitoring project in wild birds that has the goal of providing reference values of harmful agents, as measured in whole blood stored as dried blood spots. Once these "normal" values have been established, the diagnosis of environmental contaminant-mediated il...

Avian reovirus (ARV) causes viral arthritis, tenosynovitis, liver infection and immunosuppression in birds. Live-attenuated and inactivated vaccines for ARV are available, but do not efficiently protect against recent variants. Sigma C, which mediates virus attachment to target cells, is the most variable protein in ARV. Antibodies to this protein...

Streptococcus iniae is a major pathogen of fish, causing considerable economic losses in Israel, the United States and the Far East. Containment of mortalities through vaccination was recently compromised due to the emergence of novel vaccine-escape strains that are distinguished from previous strains by their ability to produce large amounts of ex...

Proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) is a fatal disorder of psittacine birds worldwide. The disease is characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of the central and peripheral nervous systems, leading to gastrointestinal motility and/or central nervous system dysfunction. Recently, we detected a significant association between avian bornavi...

Salmonellosis is a foodborne infection of major economic importance. Contamination of table eggs with Salmonella, especially Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, is a major health concern worldwide. Recently, S. enterica serovar Virchow has emerged as a major pathogen in Israel, where it is among the 3 most prevalent serovars found in poultry a...

Streptococcus iniae is a major pathogen of fish, producing fatal disease among fish species living in very diverse environments. Recently, reoccurrences of disease outbreaks were recorded in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum) farms where the entire fish population was routinely vaccinated. New strains are distinguished from previous strai...

Proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) is a fatal disorder threatening domesticated and wild psittacine birds worldwide. It is characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of the ganglia of the central and peripheral nervous system, leading to central nervous system disorders as well as disordered enteric motility and associated wasting. For al...

Alignment of bornavirus genomes 5' and 3' termini. Bornavirus genome organization overview diagrammed as in Figure 2. Sequences in alignments shown are complementary to vRNA sequence, genome isolate names shown at left. 3' end sequence recovered for ABV genome and other BDV genomes is shown in left panel, 5' end sequence recovered for ABV genome an...

Summary of clinical and molecular data for specimens provided in this study. Microsoft Excel file containing two spreadsheet (US specimens and Israel specimens) summarizing clinical and epidemiologic information available for each specimen, as well as the associated results from the described microarray/PCR/sequence experiments.

Alignment of splice donor and splice acceptor sequences in bornavirus genomes. Panel A, alignment of splice donor 1 and splice acceptor 1 sequences; Panel B, alignment of splice donor 2 and splice acceptor 2 sequences; Panel C, alignment of splice acceptor 3 sequences. Source genomes for alignments are shown at left.

Phylogenetic relationships between sub-genomic loci of ABV and representative BDV genomes. Neighbor-joining trees generated for the indicated nucleotide sequences of ABV and a representative set of BDV genomes are shown for each ORF in the bornavirus genome. Accession numbers of representative BDV genomes are: Ref/V [GenBank:NC_001607], H1766 [GenB...

Alignment of transcription initiation and termination sites in bornavirus genomes. Panel A, alignment of the 3 bornavirus transcription initiation sites (TIS) and 6 nucleotides of flanking sequences. Panel B, alignment of the 4 bornavirus transcription termination sites. Source genomes for alignments are shown at left. Black trianges highlight ABV...

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) spreads vertically and horizontally, however, the process is mostly still obscure. To further clarify the horizontal CAV spread, we examined the contribution of feathers. We demonstrated that CAV could be amplified from DNA purified from feather shafts of experimentally infected chicks, and the process efficacy was evalua...

The appearance of chicken infectious anemia (CAV) infection in Israeli commercial chicken flocks [1, 2] led to the development of novel criteria for a more significant definition of virulence. Infection trials were conducted in experimentally-inoculated embryonated eggs and in inoculated and contact-infected one-day-old CAV-negative SPF chicks. The...

Two species of kestrel, the common and lesser, were caught each month at three geographically defined locations in Israel over a 12-month period, and a total of 306 blood samples were examined for West Nile virus neutralizing antibodies. The prevalences and mean antibody titers were analyzed statistically by the multiple linear regression model and...

Lesser mealworm beetles (Alphitobius diaperinus) are frequently present in large numbers in poultry houses. They may be important as a reservoir and vector of various pathogens including Salmonella spp., which are responsible for many of the humane food-borne disease outbreaks. Previously it was shown by McAllister et al (1994) that under controlle...

An adult female bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) in the Tel Aviv University Research Zoo was found dead without previous clinical signs. The predominant pathologic changes were considerable bloody content in the intestines and enlargement of the liver, which had a rubbery consistency with color changes. Microscopic lesions consisted of multifoca...

This article presents DNA recombinant methodologies, used to design recombinant enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Additionally, the use of chlamydia recombinant major outer membrane protein (MOMP) as antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for determination of Chlamydophila psittaci antibodies in psittacines will be discussed.

Melanocytic naevi are benign skin tumours that originate in the epidermis. The pathogenesis of naevi and cutaneous malignant melanoma has been linked to sun exposure. This study evaluates alterations in the density of immunologically active epidermal dendritic cells (EDCs) in naevi in response to sun exposure. Immunohistologically stained sections...

Ten avian serotype 3 paramyxoviruses were isolated for the first time in Israel from passerine and psittacine imported caged birds. The birds were submitted for investigation of an illness characterized by nonspecific signs of weakness, anorexia, vomiting, and sneezing. In addition, only the parakeets developed specific neurologic signs. In bacteri...

Thirteen HA agents were isolated in Israel from captive flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber), Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus) belonging to order Anseriformes, and ibis (Guara rubra) belonging to order Ciconiiformes. The isolation was done from postmortem materials in three cases of severe respiratory disease with high mortality. The isolates we...

This study used radioactive microspheres to examine blood flow distribution in the mammary and reproductive systems of hyperthermic (+1 degrees C), anesthetized laboratory rabbits at different stages of pregnancy and lactation. Ovarian, cervical and oviductal blood flows decreased by 20-30% during heat stress while vulval blood flow rose by 40%, ir...

Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) inhibits the in vitro formation of many cyclooxygenases, some of which in mammals regulate pulmonary vasoconstriction. Pulmonary vasoconstriction occurs in some species subsequent to hypoxaemia, through the mediation of cyclooxygenases. If this effect also is manifested in broilers, ASA might have a therapeutic potential...

Sex differences in blood flow (BF) distribution of male and female mature laboratory rabbits were determined in normothermic and heat-stressed states. Animals were anesthetized with alpha-chloralose, and BF distribution was determined by radioactive microspheres in the thermoneutral state and then again during hyperthermia after 2 h of heat exposur...

A feral Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) was found with tremors, weakness, digit and wing flexion, and an inability to fly. A zero blood cholinesterase activity and a favorable response to treatment with pralidoxime hydrochloride indicated exposure to an anticholinergic pesticide. The bird died after 7 d, and traces of the organophosphate insecticide...

The efficacy of the antimicrobial drug norfloxacin for treating infectious coryza was examined in 26-week-old male broiler breeders. Chickens were inoculated in the infraorbital sinus with the causal organism, Haemophilus paragallinarum. Four experimental groups were set up: control uninfected chickens, infected untreated chickens, and infected chi...

Two adult Masai ostriches in a zoological collection became recumbent. The birds could not raise the neck or the head, had difficulties in breathing, and died eight and 13 days, respectively, after the first clinical signs appeared. On post mortem examination the heart had a globous appearance accompanied by gelatinous atrophy. The lungs were hyper...