Risk of Environmental Exposure to H7N9 Influenza Virus via Airborne and Surface Routes in a Live Poultry Market in Hebei, China

Environmental transmission of viruses to humans has become an early warning for potential epidemic outbreaks, such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus outbreaks. Recently, an H7N9 virus, A/environment/Hebei/621/2019 (H7N9), was isolated by environmental swabs from a live poultry market in Hebei, China. We found that this isolate could be transmitted by direct contact and aerosol in mammals. More importantly, after 5 passages in mice, the virus acquired two adaptive mutations, PB1-H115Q and B2-E627K, exhibiting increased virulence and aerosol transmissibility. These results suggest that this H7N9 virus might potentially be transmitted between humans through environmental or airborne routes.

An automated detection of influenza virus based on 3-D magnetophoretic separation and magnetic label

An automated detection device was constructed for H7N9 influenza virus hemagglutinin based on 3-D magnetophoretic separation and magnetic label.

Analysis of the Codon Usage Pattern of HA and NA Genes of H7N9 Influenza A Virus

Novel H7N9 influenza virus transmitted from birds to human and, since March 2013, it has caused five epidemic waves in China. Although the evolution of H7N9 viruses has been investigated, the evolutionary changes associated with codon usage are still unclear. Herein, the codon usage pattern of two surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA), was studied to understand the evolutionary changes in relation to host, epidemic wave, and pathogenicity. Both genes displayed a low codon usage bias, with HA higher than NA. The codon usage was driven by mutation pressure and natural selection, although the main contributing factor was natural selection. Additionally, the codon adaptation index (CAI) and deoptimization (RCDI) illustrated the strong adaptability of H7N9 to Gallus gallus. Similarity index (SiD) analysis showed that Homo sapiens posed a stronger selection pressure than Gallus gallus. Thus, we assume that this may be related to the gradual adaptability of the virus to human. In addition, the host strong selection pressure was validated based on CpG dinucleotide content. In conclusion, this study analyzed the usage of codons of two genes of H7N9 and expanded our understanding of H7N9 host specificity. This aids into the development of control measures against H7N9 influenza virus.