Defining the Sizes of Airborne Particles That Mediate Influenza Transmission in Ferrets
Defining the sizes of airborne particles that mediate influenza transmission in ferrets Jie Zhoua,1, Jianjian Weib,1, Ka-Tim Choya, Sin Fun Siaa, Dewi K. Rowlandsc, Dan Yua, Chung-Yi Wud, William G. Lindsleye, Benjamin J. Cowlinga, James McDevittf, Malik Peirisa,2, Yuguo Lib, and Hui-Ling Yena,2 aSchool of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; bDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; cLaboratory Animal Services Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; dGenomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, Republic of China; eAllergy and Clinical Immunology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV 26505; and fDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115 Contributed by Malik Peiris, January 16, 2018 (sent for review October 2, 2017; reviewed by Kanta Subbarao and Terrence M. Tumpey) Epidemics and pandemics of influenza are characterized by rapid ferrets via respiratory droplets, ferrets are often used to assess the global spread mediated by non-mutually exclusive transmission pandemic risk of zoonotic influenza viruses (11). However, the modes. The relative significance between contact, droplet, and conventional experimental settings cannot clarify the relative airborne transmission is yet to be defined, a knowledge gap for transmission efficiency of airborne particles of different sizes implementing evidence-based infection control measures. We that mediate droplet and airborne transmission. To address this devised a transmission chamber that separates virus-laden particles knowledge gap, we developed a transmission chamber capable by size and determined the particle sizes mediating transmission of separating influenza virus-laden particles into specific size of influenza among ferrets through the air.
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