scholarly journals Characterization of H9 Subtype Influenza Viruses from the Ducks of Southern China: a Candidate for the Next Influenza Pandemic in Humans?

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 6988-6994 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Li ◽  
K. M. Xu ◽  
J. S. M. Peiris ◽  
L. L. M. Poon ◽  
K. Z. Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Current View ◽  
Domestic Ducks ◽  
H5n1 Influenza ◽  
Pandemic Virus ◽  
Influenza Outbreaks

ABSTRACT A current view of the emergence of pandemic influenza viruses envisages a gene flow from the aquatic avian reservoir to humans via reassortment in pigs, the hypothetical “mixing vessel.” Understanding arising from recent H5N1 influenza outbreaks in Hong Kong since 1997 and the isolation of avian H9N2 virus from humans raises alternative options for the emergence of a new pandemic virus. Here we report that H9N2 influenza viruses established in terrestrial poultry in southern China are transmitted back to domestic ducks, in which the viruses generate multiple reassortants. These novel H9N2 viruses are double or even triple reassortants that have amino acid signatures in their hemagglutinin, indicating their potential to directly infect humans. Some of them contain gene segments that are closely related to those of A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1/97, H5N1) or A/Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (G1-like, H9N2). More importantly, some of their internal genes are closely related to those of novel H5N1 viruses isolated during the outbreak in Hong Kong in 2001. This study reveals a two-way transmission of influenza virus between terrestrial and aquatic birds that facilitates the generation of novel reassortant H9N2 influenza viruses. Such reassortants may directly or indirectly play a role in the emergence of the next pandemic virus.

scholarly journals Characterization of H5N1 Influenza Viruses That Continue To Circulate in Geese in Southeastern China

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Webster ◽  
Yi Guan ◽  
Malik Peiris ◽  
David Walker ◽  
Scott Krauss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
H5n1 Influenza ◽  
Oral Inoculation ◽  
Live Poultry ◽  
High Doses ◽  
High Virus ◽  
High Degree

ABSTRACT The H5N1 influenza virus, which killed humans and poultry in 1997, was a reassortant that possibly arose in one type of domestic poultry present in the live-poultry markets of Hong Kong. Given that all the precursors of H5N1/97 are still circulating in poultry in southern China, the reassortment event that generated H5N1 could be repeated. Because A/goose/Guangdong/1/96-like (H5N1; Go/Gd) viruses are the proposed donors of the hemagglutinin gene of the H5N1 virus, we investigated the continued circulation, host range, and transmissibility of Go/Gd-like viruses in poultry. The Go/Gd-like viruses caused weight loss and death in some mice inoculated with high virus doses. Transmission of Go/Gd-like H5N1 viruses to geese by contact with infected geese resulted in infection of all birds but limited signs of overt disease. In contrast, oral inoculation with high doses of Go/Gd-like viruses resulted in the deaths of up to 50% of infected geese. Transmission from infected geese to chickens occurred only by fecal contact, whereas transmission to quail occurred by either aerosol or fecal spread. This difference is probably explained by the higher susceptibility of quail to Go/Gd-like virus. The high degree of susceptibility of quail to Go/Gd (H5N1)-like viruses and the continued circulation of H6N1 and H9N2 viruses in quail support the hypothesis that quail were the host of origin of the H5N1/97 virus. The ease of transmission of Go/Gd (H5N1)-like viruses to land-based birds, especially quail, supports the wisdom of separating aquatic and land-based poultry in the markets in Hong Kong and the need for continued surveillance in the field and live-bird markets in which different types of poultry are in contact with one another.

scholarly journals Molecular Evolution of H6 Influenza Viruses from Poultry in Southeastern China: Prevalence of H6N1 Influenza Viruses Possessing Seven A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1)-Like Genes in Poultry

2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Chin ◽  
E. Hoffmann ◽  
R. Webby ◽  
R. G. Webster ◽  
Y. Guan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
H5n1 Virus ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Species Barrier ◽  
H5n1 Influenza ◽  
Pathogenic H5n1

ABSTRACT The A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97 (H6N1) influenza virus and the human H5N1 and H9N2 influenza viruses possess similar genes encoding internal proteins, suggesting that H6N1 viruses could become novel human pathogens. The molecular epidemiology and evolution of H6 influenza viruses were characterized by antigenic and genetic analyses of 29 H6 influenza viruses isolated from 1975 to 1981 and 1997 to 2000. Two distinct groups were identified on the basis of their antigenic characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all H6N1 viruses isolated from terrestrial poultry in 1999 and 2000 are closely related to A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97 (H6N1), and the nucleotide sequences of these viruses and of A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1) were more than 96% homologous. The hemagglutinin (HA) of the 1999 and 2000 terrestrial viruses does not have multiple basic amino acids at the site of cleavage of HA1 to HA2; however, a unique insertion of aspartic acid in HA1 between positions 144 and 145 (H3 numbering) was found. The neuraminidase of these terrestrial H6N1 viruses has a deletion of 19 amino acids characteristic of A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1). Evolutionary analysis suggested that these H6N1 viruses coevolved with A/quail/Hong Kong/G1/97-like H9N2 viruses and became more adapted to terrestrial poultry. These terrestrial 1999 and 2000 A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97 (H6N1)-like viruses, along with the H9N2 viruses, could have been involved in the genesis of the pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses of 1997. The presence of H6N1 viruses in poultry markets in Hong Kong that possess seven of the eight genes of the A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1) virus raises the following fundamental questions relevant to influenza pandemic preparedness: could the pathogenic H5N1 virus reemerge and could the H6N1 viruses directly cross the species barrier to mammals?

scholarly journals Characterization of Avian H5N1 Influenza Viruses from Poultry in Hong Kong

Virology ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 252 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kennedy F. Shortridge ◽  
Nan Nan Zhou ◽  
Yi Guan ◽  
Peng Gao ◽  
Toshihiro Ito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
H5n1 Influenza

scholarly journals The Genesis and Evolution of H9N2 Influenza Viruses in Poultry from Southern China, 2000 to 2005

2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (19) ◽  
pp. 10389-10401 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Xu ◽  
G. J. D. Smith ◽  
J. Bahl ◽  
L. Duan ◽  
H. Tai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern China ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Interspecies Transmission ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Domestic Ducks ◽  
H5n1 Influenza ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Virus ◽  
Great Genetic Diversity

ABSTRACT H9N2 influenza viruses have become established in terrestrial poultry in different Asian countries over the last 2 decades. Our previous study demonstrated that quail harbor increasingly diverse novel H9N2 reassortants, including both Chicken/Beijing/1/94 (Ck/Bei-like) and Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (G1-like) viruses. However, since 1999, the genesis and evolution of H9N2 viruses in different types of poultry have not been investigated systematically. In the present study, H9N2 viruses isolated from chickens, ducks, and other minor poultry species were characterized genetically and antigenically. Our findings demonstrate that Ck/Bei-like H9N2 viruses have been introduced into many different types of poultry in southern China, including quail, partridges, chukar, pheasant, guinea fowl, and domestic ducks, while G1-like viruses were commonly detected in quail, less frequently detected in other minor poultry species, and not detected in chickens and ducks. Genetic analysis revealed 35 genotypes of H9N2 viruses, including 14 novel genotypes that have not been recognized before. Our results also suggested that two-way interspecies transmission exists between different types of poultry. Our study demonstrates that the long-term cocirculation of multiple virus lineages (e.g., H5N1 and H9N2 viruses) in different types of poultry has facilitated the frequent reassortment events that are mostly responsible for the current great genetic diversity in H9N2 and H5N1 influenza viruses in this region. This situation favors the emergence of influenza viruses with pandemic potential.

scholarly journals Characterization of human influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in mice: neuro-, pneumo- and adipotropic infection

2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 2503-2510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidekazu Nishimura ◽  
Shigeyuki Itamura ◽  
Takuya Iwasaki ◽  
Takeshi Kurata ◽  
Masato Tashiro
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Degenerative Change ◽  
Lethal Dose ◽  
Virus Antigen ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Adipose Tissues ◽  
H5n1 Influenza ◽  
The Brain

Mice (ddY strain, 4 weeks old) were infected intranasally with the H5N1 influenza viruses A/Hong Kong/156/97 (HK156) and A/Hong Kong/483/97 (HK483) isolated from humans. HK156 and HK483 required 200 and 5 p.f.u. of virus, respectively, to give a 50% lethal dose to the mice when the volume of inoculum was set at 10 μl. Both viruses caused encephalitis and severe bronchopneumonia in infected mice. The severity of lung lesions caused by the viruses was essentially similar, whereas HK483 caused more extensive lesions in the brain than did HK156. This was supported by the results of virus titration of organ homogenates, which showed that the virus titres in brains of HK483-infected mice were more than 100-fold higher than those of HK156-infected mice, while those in lungs were almost equivalent. Both viruses were detected in homogenates of the heart, liver, spleen and kidney and blood of the infected mice. Virus antigen was detected by immunohistology in the heart and liver, albeit sporadically, but caused no degenerative change in these organs. The antigen was not detected in the thymus, spleen, pancreas, kidney or gastrointestinal tract. In contrast, virus antigen was found frequently in adipose tissues attached to those organs. The adipose tissues showed severe degenerative change and the virus titres in the tissues were high and comparable to those in lungs. Thus, infection of HK156 and HK483 in our mouse model was pneumo-, neuro- and adipotropic, but not pantropic. Furthermore, HK483 showed higher neurotropism than HK156, which may account for its higher lethality.

scholarly journals Cross-Reactive, Cell-Mediated Immunity and Protection of Chickens from Lethal H5N1 Influenza Virus Infection in Hong Kong Poultry Markets

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 2516-2525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Heui Seo ◽  
Robert G. Webster
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Virus Infection ◽  
Cellular Immunity ◽  
Influenza Virus Infection ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
H5n1 Influenza Virus ◽  
H9n2 Influenza Virus ◽  
H5n1 Influenza

ABSTRACT In 1997, avian H5N1 influenza virus transmitted from chickens to humans resulted in 18 confirmed infections. Despite harboring lethal H5N1 influenza viruses, most chickens in the Hong Kong poultry markets showed no disease signs. At this time, H9N2 influenza viruses were cocirculating in the markets. We investigated the role of H9N2 influenza viruses in protecting chickens from lethal H5N1 influenza virus infections. Sera from chickens infected with an H9N2 influenza virus did not cross-react with an H5N1 influenza virus in neutralization or hemagglutination inhibition assays. Most chickens primed with an H9N2 influenza virus 3 to 70 days earlier survived the lethal challenge of an H5N1 influenza virus, but infected birds shed H5N1 influenza virus in their feces. Adoptive transfer of T lymphocytes or CD8+ T cells from inbred chickens (B2/B2) infected with an H9N2 influenza virus to naive inbred chickens (B2/B2) protected them from lethal H5N1 influenza virus. In vitro cytotoxicity assays showed that T lymphocytes or CD8+ T cells from chickens infected with an H9N2 influenza virus recognized target cells infected with either an H5N1 or H9N2 influenza virus in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings indicate that cross-reactive cellular immunity induced by H9N2 influenza viruses protected chickens from lethal infection with H5N1 influenza viruses in the Hong Kong markets in 1997 but permitted virus shedding in the feces. Our findings are the first to suggest that cross-reactive cellular immunity can change the outcome of avian influenza virus infection in birds in live markets and create a situation for the perpetuation of H5N1 influenza viruses.

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