Serological evidence of pig-to-human influenza virus transmission on Thai swine farms

Abstract

We investigated influenza interspecies transmission in two commercial swine farms in Thailand. Sera from swine-exposed workers ( n = 78), age-matched non-swine-exposed healthy people ( n = 60) and swine populations in both farms ( n = 85) were studied. Hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) assay was performed on Thai swine H1 viruses (swH1N1 and swH1N2) isolated from both farms. Thai human H1N1 (huH1N1) and pandemic H1N1 2009 (pH1N1) were also used as test antigens. The hemagglutinin (HA) 1 genes of swH1N1 and swH1N2 viruses were sequenced and shown to be genetically distinct from the Thai huH1N1 and pH1N1 viruses. Evidence of pig-to-human influenza virus transmission was found in farm workers with increased odds of elevated antibody titers to both swH1N1 (OR 42.63, 95% CI, 14.65–124) and swH1N2 (OR 58, 95% CI, 13.12–256.3) viruses. No evidence of human-to-pig influenza virus transmission was detected in this study.