DETECTION AND ISOLATION OF HIGHLY PATHOGENIC H5N1 AVIAN INFLUENZA A VIRUSES FROM BLOW FLIES COLLECTED IN THE VICINITY OF AN INFECTED POULTRY FARM IN KYOTO, JAPAN, 2004

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 75; no. 2; pp. 327 - 332
• Main Authors: SAWABE, KYOKO, HOSHINO, KEITA, ISAWA, HARUHIKO, SASAKI, TOSHINORI, HAYASHI, TOSHIHIKO, TSUDA, YOSHIO, KURAHASHI, HIROMU, TANABAYASHI, KIYOSHI, HOTTA, AKITOYO, SAITO, TAKEHIKO, YAMADA, AKIO, KOBAYASHI, MUTSUO
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence, KS ASTMH 01.08.2006; Allen Press
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence - genetics; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Chick Embryo; Diptera - classification; Diptera - virology; Hemagglutinins - genetics; Human viral diseases; Infectious diseases; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - isolation & purification; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - pathogenicity; Influenza in Birds - transmission; Influenza in Birds - virology; Insect Vectors - classification; Insect Vectors - virology; Japan; Medical sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; Neuraminidase - genetics; Poultry; Poultry Diseases - transmission; Poultry Diseases - virology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Sequence Alignment; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Viral Matrix Proteins - genetics; Asia; Japan; Infection; Avian influenza; Poultry; Arthropoda; Insecta; Isolation; Tropical medicine; Invertebrata; Detection; Diptera
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2006.75.327

During the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza that occurred in Tamba Town, Kyoto Prefecture in 2004, a total of 926 flies were collected from six sites within a radius of 2.3 km from the poultry farm. The H5 influenza A virus genes were detected from the intestinal organs, crop, and gut of the two blow fly species, Calliphora nigribarbis and Aldrichina grahami, by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the matrix protein (M) and hemagglutinin (HA) genes. The HA gene encoding multiple basic amino acids at the HA cleavage site indicated that this virus is a highly pathogenic strain. Based on the full-length sequences of the M, HA, and neuraminidase (NA) segments of virus isolates through embryonated chicken eggs, the virus from C. nigribarbis (A/blow fly/Kyoto/93/2004) was characterized as H5N1 subtype influenza A virus and shown to have > 99.9% identities in all three RNA segments to a strain from chickens (A/chicken/Kyoto/3/2004) and crows (A/crows/Kyoto/53/2004) derived during this outbreak period in Kyoto in 2004. Our results suggest it is possible that blow flies could become a mechanical transmitter of H5N1 influenza virus.