Characterization of Avian Influenza Virus H10-H12 Subtypes Isolated from Wild Birds in Shanghai, China from 2016 to 2019.

Wangjun Tang,Le Ming,Guimei He,Jianming Gu,Tianhou Wang,Ling Tang,Xiaofang Li,Kai Qian

doi:10.3390/v12101085

Abstract

H10, H11 and H12 (H10–H12) subtypes of the avian influenza virus (AIV) are associated with waterfowl. Although these subtypes of AIV are infrequently detected in nature, they can undergo reassortment with other AIV subtypes. Few H10–H12 subtypes of AIV have been isolated from wild birds in China. In this study, 12 AIV isolates of H10–H12 subtypes were identified via routine surveillance of wild birds in Shanghai, China from 2016 to 2019, including two H10, three H11 and seven H12 isolates. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genomic segments of the 12 isolates are highly diverse. These 12 isolates are closely related to those in the Eurasian lineage and share a high degree of sequence identity with those from wild birds and domestic ducks in countries in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, including Japan, Korea, Bangladesh, Vietnam and China. However, parts of the genomic segments of two H12N2 isolates (NH112319-H12N2 and NH101807-H12N2) belong to the North American lineage, suggesting intercontinental reassortment among H12 AIVs in Eurasia and North American. To better understand the ecological and phylodynamic features of H10–H12 subtypes in wild birds, a large-scale surveillance of AIVs in wild birds is warranted.

Highlights

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) isolated from birds can be divided into H1–H16 and N1–N9 subtypes based on the antigenic characteristics of the two surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) [1]
To understand the epidemiology of H10–H12 AIVs, the variation in the total number of H10–H12 isolates from 1975 to 2020 was examined using the data obtained from the GenBank
The total number of H10–H12 isolates each year was increased since 2000, but the percentage of H10–H12 isolates out of the total number of AIVs detected per year is relatively constant

Summary

Introduction

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) isolated from birds can be divided into H1–H16 and N1–N9 subtypes based on the antigenic characteristics of the two surface proteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) [1]. H13 subtypes of AIV are primarily found in shorebirds and gulls [6,7]; H3 and H6 subtypes of AIV are prevalent in waterfowl [8]. H10–H12 subtypes of AIV are waterfowl-associated, but are infrequently detected in nature; they can reassort with other subtypes of AIV [9]. The H10N4 AIV found in farmed minks in Sweden in 1984 was the first instance of H10 AIV infection in mammals [12]. In late 2013, a novel reassorted H10N8 AIV was found to infect people in Jiangxi, China [13]. These findings indicate that H10 AIVs can infect a wide range of Viruses 2020, 12, 1085; doi:10.3390/v12101085 www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses

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