Improvement of the H5N1 influenza virus vaccine strain to decrease the pathogenicity in chicken embryos

Abstract

The avian influenza vaccine strain A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-1/2004 (H5N1) (Vac-1) was found to be pathogenic in chicken embryos (CEs). In order to decrease the pathogenicity of Vac-1 in CEs, a series of reassortant viruses was generated between Vac-1 and A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1) (PR8), and their pathogenicity and growth potential were compared in CEs. The results indicated that either the PB1 or PA protein was responsible for the pathogenicity of Vac-1 in CEs. The HA titers of the allantoic fluids of CEs inoculated with the recombinant H5N1 viruses, of which pathogenicity was lower than that of the recombinant Vac-1 prepared by reverse genetics in CEs, were equivalent to those of CEs inoculated with the recombinant Vac-1. One of the reassortant viruses, rg-PR8-PA/Vac-1 (H5N1), in which the PA gene was replaced with the corresponding gene of PR8, yielded allantoic fluids with the same HA titer as that of Vac-1, indicating that this reassortant should be a good candidate as an improved vaccine strain.