Dataset Information

Design and Validation with Influenza A Virus of an Aerosol Transmission Chamber for Ferrets.

ABSTRACT: Background: The importance of aerosols in the spread of viruses like influenza is still a subject of debate. Indeed, most viruses can also be transmitted through direct contact and droplets. Therefore, the importance of the airborne route in a clinical context is difficult to determine. The aim of this study was to design a chamber system to study the airborne transmission of viruses between ferrets. Methods: A system composed of three chambers connected in series, each one housing one ferret and preventing direct contact, was designed. The chambers were designed to house the ferrets for several days and to study the transmission of viruses from an infected (index) ferret to two naïve ferrets via aerosols and droplets or aerosols only. A particle separator was designed that can be used to modulate the size of the particles traveling between the chambers. The chamber system was validated using standard dust as well as with ferrets infected with influenza A virus. Conclusions: The 50% efficiency cut-off of the separator could be modulated between a 5-µm and an 8-µm aerodynamic diameter. In the described setup, influenza A virus was transmitted through the aerosol route in two out of three experiments, and through aerosols and droplets in all three experiments.

SUBMITTER: Turgeon N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6406687 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Design and Validation with Influenza A Virus of an Aerosol Transmission Chamber for Ferrets.

Turgeon Nathalie N Hamelin Marie-Ève MÈ Verreault Daniel D Lévesque Ariane A Rhéaume Chantal C Carbonneau Julie J Checkmahomed Liva L Girard Matthieu M Boivin Guy G Duchaine Caroline C

International journal of environmental research and public health 20190219 4

<i>Background</i>: The importance of aerosols in the spread of viruses like influenza is still a subject of debate. Indeed, most viruses can also be transmitted through direct contact and droplets. Therefore, the importance of the airborne route in a clinical context is difficult to determine. The aim of this study was to design a chamber system to study the airborne transmission of viruses between ferrets. <i>Methods</i>: A system composed of three chambers connected in series, each one housing ...[more]

PMID: 30791478

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Project description:Subtype H10 influenza A viruses (IAVs) have been recovered from domestic poultry and various aquatic bird species, and sporadic transmission of these IAVs from avian species to mammals (i.e., human, seal, and mink) are well documented. In 2015, we isolated four H10N7 viruses from gulls in Iceland. Genomic analyses showed four gene segments in the viruses were genetically associated with H10 IAVs that caused influenza outbreaks and deaths among European seals in 2014. Antigenic characterization suggested minimal antigenic variation among these H10N7 isolates and other archived H10 viruses recovered from human, seal, mink, and various avian species in Asia, Europe, and North America. Glycan binding preference analyses suggested that, similar to other avian-origin H10 IAVs, these gull-origin H10N7 IAVs bound to both avian-like alpha 2,3-linked sialic acids and human-like alpha 2,6-linked sialic acids. However, when the gull-origin viruses were compared with another Eurasian avian-origin H10N8 IAV, which caused human infections, the gull-origin virus showed significantly higher binding affinity to human-like glycan receptors. Results from a ferret experiment demonstrated that a gull-origin H10N7 IAV replicated well in turbinate, trachea, and lung, but replication was most efficient in turbinate and trachea. This gull-origin H10N7 virus can be transmitted between ferrets through the direct contact and aerosol routes, without prior adaptation. Gulls share their habitat with other birds and mammals and have frequent contact with humans; therefore, gull-origin H10N7 IAVs could pose a risk to public health. Surveillance and monitoring of these IAVs at the wild bird-human interface should be continued.IMPORTANCE Subtype H10 avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) have caused sporadic human infections and enzootic outbreaks among seals. In the fall of 2015, H10N7 viruses were recovered from gulls in Iceland, and genomic analyses showed that the viruses were genetically related with IAVs that caused outbreaks among seals in Europe a year earlier. These gull-origin viruses showed high binding affinity to human-like glycan receptors. Transmission studies in ferrets demonstrated that the gull-origin IAV could infect ferrets, and that the virus could be transmitted between ferrets through direct contact and aerosol droplets. This study demonstrated that avian H10 IAV can infect mammals and be transmitted among them without adaptation. Thus, avian H10 IAV is a candidate for influenza pandemic preparedness and should be monitored in wildlife and at the animal-human interface.

Project description:Avian H7 influenza viruses are recognized as potential pandemic viruses, as personnel often become infected during poultry outbreaks. H7 infections in humans typically cause mild conjunctivitis; however, the H7N9 outbreak in the spring of 2013 has resulted in severe respiratory disease. To date, no H7 viruses have acquired the ability for sustained transmission among humans. Airborne transmission is considered a requirement for the emergence of pandemic influenza, and advanced knowledge of the molecular changes or signature required for transmission would allow early identification of pandemic vaccine seed stocks, screening and stockpiling of antiviral compounds, and eradication efforts focused on flocks harboring threatening viruses. Thus, we sought to determine if a highly pathogenic influenza A H7N1 (A/H7N1) virus with no history of human infection could become capable of airborne transmission among ferrets. We show that after 10 serial passages, A/H7N1 developed the ability to be transmitted to cohoused and airborne contact ferrets. Four amino acid mutations (PB2 T81I, NP V284M, and M1 R95K and Q211K) in the internal genes and a minimal amino acid mutation (K/R313R) in the stalk region of the hemagglutinin protein were associated with airborne transmission. Furthermore, transmission was not associated with loss of virulence. These findings highlight the importance of the internal genes in host adaptation and suggest that natural isolates carrying these mutations be further evaluated. Our results demonstrate that a highly pathogenic avian H7 virus can become capable of airborne transmission in a mammalian host, and they support ongoing surveillance and pandemic H7 vaccine development.The major findings of this report are that a highly pathogenic strain of H7N1 avian influenza virus can be adapted to become capable of airborne transmission in mammals without mutations altering receptor specificity. Changes in receptor specificity have been shown to play a role in the ability of avian influenza viruses to cross the species barrier, and these changes are assumed to be essential. The work reported here challenges this paradigm, at least for the influenza viruses of the H7 subtype, which have recently become the focus of major attention, as they have crossed to humans.

Dataset Information

Design and Validation with Influenza A Virus of an Aerosol Transmission Chamber for Ferrets.

Publications

Design and Validation with Influenza A Virus of an Aerosol Transmission Chamber for Ferrets.

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