Kent CM, Bevins SN, Mullinax JM, Sullivan JD, Pros. Waterfowl show spatiotemporal trends in influenza A H5 and H7 infections but limited taxonomic variation. Ecol Appl. 2023 Jul 31:e2906
Influenza A viruses in wild birds pose threats to the poultry industry, wild birds, and human health under certain conditions. Of particular importance are wild waterfowl, which are the primary reservoir of low pathogenicity influenza viruses that ultimately cause high pathogenicity outbreaks in poultry farms. Despite much work on the drivers of influenza A virus prevalence, the underlying viral subtype dynamics are still mostly unexplored. Nevertheless, understanding these dynamics, particularly for the agriculturally significant H5 and H7 subtypes, is important for mitigating the risk of outbreaks in domestic poultry farms. Here, using an expansive surveillance database, we take a large-scale look at the spatial, temporal, and taxonomic drivers in the prevalence of these two subtypes among influenza A positive wild waterfowl. We document spatiotemporal trends that are consistent with past work, particularly an uptick in H5 viruses in late autumn and H7 viruses in spring. Interestingly, despite large species differences in temporal trends in overall influenza A virus prevalence, we document only modest differences in the relative abundance of these two subtypes and little, if any, temporal differences among species. As such, it appears that differences in species´ phenology, physiology, and behaviors that influence overall susceptibility to influenza A viruses play a much lesser role in relative susceptibility to different subtypes. Instead, species likely freely pass viruses among each other regardless of subtype. Importantly, despite the similarities among species documented here, individual species still may play important roles in moving viruses across large geographic areas or sustaining local outbreaks through their different migratory behaviors.
See Also:
Latest articles in those days:
- Influenza D Virus Infection in China, 2022-2023 10 hours ago
- Evidence of reassortment of avian influenza A (H2) viruses in Brazilian shorebirds 10 hours ago
- Epitopes in the HA and NA of H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses that are important for antigenic drift 2 days ago
- Assessment of CD8+ T-cell mediated immunity in an influenza A(H3N2) human challenge model in Belgium: a single centre, randomised, double-blind phase 2 study 2 days ago
- Dual N-linked glycosylation at residues 133 and 158 in the hemagglutinin are essential for the efficacy of H7N9 avian influenza virus like particle vaccine in chickens and mice 2 days ago
[Go Top] [Close Window]