Molecular characterization of H9N2 influenza viruses: were they the donors of the "internal" genes of H5N1 viruses in Hong Kong?

ABSTRACT: The origin of the H5N1 influenza viruses that killed six of eighteen infected humans in 1997 and were highly pathogenic in chickens has not been resolved. These H5N1 viruses transmitted directly to humans from infected poultry. In the poultry markets in Hong Kong, both H5N1 and H9N2 influenza viruses were cocirculating, raising the possibility of genetic reassortment. Here we analyze the antigenic and genetic features of H9N2 influenza viruses with different epidemiological backgrounds. The results suggest that the H9N2 influenza viruses of domestic ducks have become established in the domestic poultry of Asia. Phylogenetic and antigenic analyses of the H9N2 viruses isolated from Hong Kong markets suggest three distinct sublineages. Among the chicken H9N2 viruses, six of the gene segments

SUBMITTER: Guan Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC17788 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature