Dataset Information

Changing patterns of h6 influenza viruses in Hong Kong poultry markets.

ABSTRACT: Until 2001, H6N1 influenza viruses in the Hong Kong bird markets were represented by a single stable A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97-like lineage. Beginning in 2001, despite a reduction in overall prevalence, an increase was observed in the number of H6 viruses isolated from chickens and other hosts. To assess any changes in H6 viruses, we characterized 18 H6 viruses isolated in the Hong Kong bird markets from 2001 to 2003. Experimental data showed that the 2003 H6 viruses had similar infectivity for chickens as did A/teal/HK/W312/97, and they were unable to transmit. Although all hemagglutinin genes were closely related to A/teal/HK/W312/97, 7 isolates were reassortant viruses containing similar gene segments of co-circulating H9N2 or H5N1 viruses. The receptor specificity was different from that of A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97. Interestingly, similar observations have been documented in H9N2 viruses in Hong Kong. This evolution strongly suggests that some change in the ecology of influenza in the region selected for these changes. Taken together, these findings suggest that the H6 influenza viruses isolated in the Hong Kong markets are not well adapted to chickens and that the likely continued source of these viruses are other "minor" poultry species in which they are undergoing genetic and biologic evolution.

SUBMITTER: Ozaki H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3447289 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Changing patterns of h6 influenza viruses in Hong Kong poultry markets.

Ozaki Hiroichi H Guan Yi Y Peiris Malik M Webster Robert R Webby Richard R

Influenza research and treatment 20101018

Until 2001, H6N1 influenza viruses in the Hong Kong bird markets were represented by a single stable A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97-like lineage. Beginning in 2001, despite a reduction in overall prevalence, an increase was observed in the number of H6 viruses isolated from chickens and other hosts. To assess any changes in H6 viruses, we characterized 18 H6 viruses isolated in the Hong Kong bird markets from 2001 to 2003. Experimental data showed that the 2003 H6 viruses had similar infectivity for c ...[more]

PMID: 23074660

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Project description:In 2014, the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong introduced screening for influenza C virus (ICV) as part of its routine surveillance for infectious agents in specimens collected from patients presenting with symptoms of respiratory viral infection, including influenza-like illness (ILI). A retrospective analysis of ICV detections up to week 26 of 2019 revealed persistent low-level circulation, with two outbreaks having occurred in the winters of 2015 to 2016 and 2017 to 2018. These outbreaks occurred at the same time as, and were dwarfed by, seasonal epidemics of influenza types A and B. Gene sequencing studies on stored ICV-positive clinical specimens from the two outbreaks have shown that the hemagglutinin-esterase (HE) genes of the viruses fall into two of the six recognized genetic lineages (represented by C/Kanagawa/1/76 and C/São Paulo/378/82), with there being significant genetic drift compared to earlier circulating viruses within both lineages. The location of a number of encoded amino acid substitutions in hemagglutinin-esterase fusion (HEF) glycoproteins suggests that antigenic drift may also have occurred. Observations of ICV outbreaks in other countries, with some of the infections being associated with severe disease, indicates that ICV infection has the potential to have significant clinical and health care impacts in humans.IMPORTANCE Influenza C virus infection of humans is common, and reinfection can occur throughout life. While symptoms are generally mild, severe disease cases have been reported, but knowledge of the virus is limited, as little systematic surveillance for influenza C virus is conducted and the virus cannot be studied by classical virologic methods because it cannot be readily isolated in laboratories. A combination of systematic surveillance in Hong Kong SAR, China, and new gene sequencing methods has been used in this study to assess influenza C virus evolution and provides evidence for a 2-year cycle of disease outbreaks. The results of studies like that reported here are key to developing an understanding of the impact of influenza C virus infection in humans and how virus evolution might be associated with epidemics.

Dataset Information

Changing patterns of h6 influenza viruses in Hong Kong poultry markets.

Publications

Changing patterns of h6 influenza viruses in Hong Kong poultry markets.

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