為了解台中地區野生水禽類感染A型流感病毒情形，本實驗室於1992年10月至1993年3月假台中大肚溪口總共採集野生水禽類的糞便拭子共246個樣本。其中包括東方環頸(Charadrius alexandrinus)86個樣本；中杓鷸(Numenius phaeopus)26個樣本；濱鷸(Calidris alpina)74個樣本及黑嘴鷗(Laris saundersi)60個樣本。所有樣本經無菌處理後接種於9-10日齡雞胚蛋中培養，接種24小時後死亡的雞胚則抽取其尿囊液作血球凝集試驗。陽性反應者其尿囊液則以RT-PCR偵測A型流感病毒非結構性蛋白基因，結果顯示東方環頸糞便拭子樣本中含有此基因片段。經序列及演化分析結果顯示與以往引起嚴重家禽疾病的禽流感病毒非結構性蛋白基因很接近，推論野生水禽一直保存著以前流行過的禽流感病毒部份基因。
In order to understand the prevalence of influenza A virus among migratory waterfowls in the Taichung area of Taiwan, a total of two hundred and forty-six samples of cloacal swabs, including 86 samples from eastern Kentish plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus), 26 from whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus), 74 from dunblins (Calidris alpina), and 60 from Saunder’s gulls(Laris saundersi) were collected. All samples were injected into 9 to 10 day-old chick embryos after supplement of antibiotics and ultrafiltration . After 24 hours, the allantoic fluid of the dead embryos underwent Hemagglutination (HA) test. The positive HA test samples were further studied by RT-PCR for the presence of the nonstructural (NS) protein gene of influenza A virus. The result indicated only one of the cloacal samples from eastern Kentish plovers to be positive. The PCR product was then subjected to DNA sequencing and analyzed phylogenetically. The results indicated that both the NS gene found in the isolate of this study and that of a formerly prevalent strain were closely related, suggesting that the gene of the avian influenza virus, which was once prevalent in domestic fowls, might still persist among waterfowls.
