H5N1 avian influenza re-emergence of Lake Qinghai: phylogenetic and antigenic analyses of the newly isolated viruses and roles of migratory birds in virus circulation

• Published in: Journal of general virology 2008-03, Vol.89 (3), p.697-702
• Main Authors: Wang, Guihua, Zhan, Dawei, Li, Laixing, Lei, Fumin, Liu, Bohua, Liu, Di, Xiao, Haixia, Feng, Youjun, Li, Jing, Yang, Baoan, Yin, Zuohua, Song, Xiaohui, Zhu, Xiaojia, Cong, Yanlong, Pu, Juan, Wang, Jian, Liu, Jinhua, Gao, George F, Zhu, Qingyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal; Animal Migration; Animals; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Birds - physiology; Birds - virology; Chickens - virology; China; Cygnus olor; Disease Outbreaks; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genome, Viral; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus - genetics; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus - immunology; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - genetics; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - immunology; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - isolation & purification; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - pathogenicity; Influenza in Birds - epidemiology; Influenza in Birds - virology; Mice; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Neuraminidase - antagonists & inhibitors; Neuraminidase - genetics; Neuraminidase - immunology; Phylogeny; Poultry Diseases - virology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Virology
• ISSN: 0022-1317; 1465-2099
• DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.83419-0

1 Center for Molecular Virology and Center for Molecular Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China 2 Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China 3 China-Japan Joint Laboratory of Molecular Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, PR China 4 State Key Laboratory of Pathogens and Biosecurity, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, PR China 5 Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, PR China 6 Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'ning 810008, PR China 7 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, PR China 8 College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, PR China 9 Beijing Genomics Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101300, PR China Correspondence George F. Gao gaof{at}im.ac.cn Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has swept west across the globe and caused serious debates on the roles of migratory birds in virus circulation since the first large-scale outbreak in migratory birds of Lake Qinghai, 2005. In May 2006, another outbreak struck Lake Qinghai and six novel strains were isolated. To elucidate these QH06 viruses, the six isolates were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses show that QH06 viruses are derived from the lineages of Lake Qinghai, 2005. Five of the six novel isolates are adjacent to the strain A/Cygnus olor/Croatia/1/05, and the last one is related to the strain A/duck/Novosibirsk/02/05, an isolate of the flyway. Antigenic analyses suggest that QH06 and QH05 viruses are similar to each other. These findings implicate that QH06 viruses of Lake Qinghai may travel back via migratory birds, though not ruling out the possibility of local circulation of viruses of Lake Qinghai. These authors contributed equally to this work.