Clinic for Poultry
University of Vet. Medicine Hannover
Bünteweg 17
30559 Hannover
Phone: +49 (0) 511 953 8763, Fax: +49 (0) 511 953 8580
silke.rautenschlein@tiho-hannover.de
Homepage
Research Interests:
At the Clinic for Poultry we are interested on the one hand side in epidemiological aspects of avian influenza virus (AIV) distribution in birds, especially we have investigated migrating birds, and different pigeon populations. We could demonstrate in vitro that specifically homing pigeons show low susceptibility to AIV infection, and are rarely AIV-positive in the field. Due to the variations in AIV-susceptibility between different bird species our major research interest is focused on the understanding of the virus-host-interactions by comparing different poultry species as well as low and highly pathogenic AIV using in vitro and in vivo models. The close collaboration with the Institute for Medical Virology at the University of Giessen allowed us to furthermore investigate the impact of reassortant AIV of avian and human origin on avian species and therefore supplement the data generated in mammalian hosts in Giessen. Overall, the AIV research at the Clinic for Poultry combines fundamental virological studies with clinical and field applied research important not only for human but also veterinary medicine, and wild life. Our projects are funded by various national organizations and are embedded in different kind of networks.