Abstract
Since 2013, highly pathogenic (HP) H5N6 influenza A viruses (IAVs) have emerged in poultry in Asia, especially Southeast Asia. These viruses have also caused sporadic infections in humans within the same geographic areas. Active IAV surveillance in wild birds sampled in Guangdong province, China from August 2014 through February 2015 resulted in the recovery of three H5N6 IAVs. These H5N6 IAV isolates possess the basic amino acid motif at the HA1-HA2 cleavage site that is associated with highly pathogenic IAVs infecting chickens. Noteworthy findings include: (1) the HP H5N6 IAV isolates were recovered from three species of apparently healthy wild birds (most other isolates of HP H5N6 IAV in Asia are recovered from dead wild birds or fecal samples in the environment) and (2) these isolates were apparently the first recoveries of HP H5N6 IAV for two of the three species thus expanding the demonstrated natural host range for these lineages of virus. This investigation provides additional insight into the natural history of HP H5N6 IAVs and identifies the occurrence of non-lethal, HP H5N6 IAV infections in wild birds thereby demonstrating the value of active IAV surveillance in wild birds.
Highlights
Since 2013, highly pathogenic (HP) H5N6 influenza A viruses (IAVs) have emerged in poultry in Asia, especially Southeast Asia
Subtype (n)a spread by long-distance migratory birds[13] which add additional evidence supporting the role of wild birds in the long-distance transmission and spread of HPAIVs during their seasonal migrations along their flyways[14]. In this investigation we examined wild birds in Guangdong Province for active IAV infections from August 2014 through
The SW8, GZ174 and ZH283 IAV isolates have a string of basic amino acids at the HA cleavage site (-RRRKR↓G-), which is characteristic of HPAIVs15,16
Summary
From August 2014 to February 2015, a total of 1092 oropharyngeal and cloacal samples were collected from apparently healthy wild birds in Guangdong Province, China (Table 1). Three H5N6 subtype AIVs were isolated from an oriental magpie-robin (oropharyngeal swab), a common moorhen (oropharyngeal swab), and a Pallas’s sandgrouse (both oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs). These H5N6 AIVs were designated as A/oriental magpie-robin/Guangdong/. SW8/2014 (H5N6) (SW8), A/common moorhen/Guangdong/GZ174/2014 (H5N6) (GZ174) and A/Pallas’s sandgrouse/Guangdong/ZH283/2015 (H5N6) (ZH283) respectively. We constructed maximum likelihood trees for each of the eight viral genomic segments from our new sequences combined with data from public sources
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