William J. Bean

TL;DR: Wild aquatic bird populations have long been considered the natural reservoir for influenza A viruses with virus transmission from these birds seeding other avian and mammalian hosts, but recent studies in bats have suggested other reservoir species may also exist.

TL;DR: The susceptibility of ducks to infection with human and avian strains of influenza virus and the possibility of transmission to animal species through the water supply suggests that ducks may be important in the ecology of influenza viruses.

TL;DR: The similarities between this epizootic and other seal mortalities in the past suggest that these events may be linked by common biological and environmental factors.

TL;DR: Phylogenetic analysis of 42 membrane protein (M) genes of influenza A viruses from a variety of hosts and geographic locations showed that these genes have evolved into at least four major host-related lineages: A/Equine/prague/56, which has the most divergent M gene, and a lineage containing only H13 gull viruses.

TL;DR: The results suggest that the original avirulent virus was probably derived from influenza viruses from wild birds and that the virulent strain was derived from the avirulence strain by selective adaptation rather than by recombination or the introduction of a new virus into the population.