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Detection and Characterization of Swine Origin Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic 2009 Viruses in Humans following Zoonotic Transmission.

ABSTRACT: Human-to-swine transmission of seasonal influenza viruses has led to sustained human-like influenza viruses circulating in the U.S. swine population. While some reverse zoonotic-origin viruses adapt and become enzootic in swine, nascent reverse zoonoses may result in virus detections that are difficult to classify as "swine-origin" or "human-origin" due to the genetic similarity of circulating viruses. This is the case for human-origin influenza A(H1N1) pandemic 2009 (pdm09) viruses detected in pigs following numerous reverse zoonosis events since the 2009 pandemic. We report the identification of two human infections with A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses originating from swine hosts and classify them as "swine-origin" variant influenza viruses based on phylogenetic analysis and sequence comparison methods. Phylogenetic analyses of viral genomes from two cases revealed these viruses were reassortants containing A(H1N1)pdm09 hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes with genetic combinations derived from the triple reassortant internal gene cassette. Follow-up investigations determined that one individual had direct exposure to swine in the week preceding illness onset, while another did not report swine exposure. The swine-origin A(H1N1) variant cases were resolved by full genome sequence comparison of the variant viruses to swine influenza genomes. However, if reassortment does not result in the acquisition of swine-associated genes and swine virus genomic sequences are not available from the exposure source, future cases may not be discernible. We have developed a pipeline that performs maximum likelihood analyses, a k-mer-based set difference algorithm, and random forest algorithms to identify swine-associated sequences in the hemagglutinin gene to differentiate between human-origin and swine-origin A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses.IMPORTANCE Influenza virus infects a wide range of hosts, resulting in illnesses that vary from asymptomatic cases to severe pneumonia and death. Viral transfer can occur between human and nonhuman hosts, resulting in human and nonhuman origin viruses circulating in novel hosts. In this work, we have identified the first case of a swine-origin influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus resulting in a human infection. This shows that these viruses not only circulate in swine hosts, but are continuing to evolve and distinguish themselves from previously circulating human-origin influenza viruses. The development of techniques for distinguishing human-origin and swine-origin viruses are necessary for the continued surveillance of influenza viruses. We show that unique genetic signatures can differentiate circulating swine-associated strains from circulating human-associated strains of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, and these signatures can be used to enhance surveillance of swine-origin influenza.

SUBMITTER: Cook PW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7944445 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:In June 2009, the World Health Organization declared the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century, due to the emergence and rapid spread of new swine origin H1N1 influenza A virus. In contrast to seasonal influenza infections, which typically cause morbidity and mortality in the elderly, this virus caused severe infection in young adults and not the elderly. This phenomenon was attributed to the presence of cross-neutralizing antibodies acquired by older individuals from previous exposure to swine origin influenza. However, this hypothesis could not be empirically tested using clinical data. To address this question, we investigated viral replication and the development of the immune response in naï12 years old) and aged (20 to 24 years old) female rhesus macaques infected with A/California/04/2009 (H1N1), one of the circulating pandemic strains in 2009. We compared viral loads as well as the kinetics and magnitude of the adaptive immune response in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage samples (BAL) collected longitudinally for 99 days post-infection. Although, adult animals exhibited earlier T cell responses in peripheral blood, aged animals generated a robust T cell response with comparable kinetics and magnitude as those observed in young animals in BAL. Moreover, aged animals generated a higher hemagglutination inhibition titer compared to young animals. We also measured the concentration of several cytokines in BAL supernatant. With the exception of IL-8, which was higher in aged animals, we found no differences in IFNa, IFNb, TNFa, IL-1r, IL-6, IL-15, IL-17, or MCP1 levels. Finally, we compared gene expression infection using microarray analysis of BAL samples taken on days 0, 4, 7, 10, and 14 pi. Our analyses revealed that the largest difference in host response between aged and young animals was detected day 4 post-infection, with significant enrichment for genes associated with inflammation, the innate immune response, and T cell activation in aged animals. The ability of aged animals to generate a robust immune response, especially antibody response, following infection with 2009 H1N1 virus could explain the lack of morbidity normally observed with seasonal influenza viruses in this vulnerable population.

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Detection and Characterization of Swine Origin Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic 2009 Viruses in Humans following Zoonotic Transmission.

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