Isolation of clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N8), a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, from a worker during an outbreak on a poultry farm, Russia, December 2020

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles Vol. 26; no. 24
• Main Authors: Pyankova, Olga G, Susloparov, Ivan M, Moiseeva, Anastasia A, Kolosova, Natalia P, Onkhonova, Galina S, Danilenko, Aleksey V, Vakalova, Elena V, Shendo, Gennady L, Nekeshina, Natalia N, Noskova, Lyudmila N, Demina, Julia V, Frolova, Natalia V, Gavrilova, Elena V, Maksyutov, Rinat A, Ryzhikov, Aleksandr B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saint-Maurice Centre Europeen pour la Surveillance Epidemiologique du SIDA (European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS) 17.06.2021; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• Subjects: Epidemics; Immunization; Influenza; Poultry; Rapid Communication; Vaccines; Russia
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917
• DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.24.2100439

This study presents the isolation of influenza A(H5N8) virus clade 2.3.4.4b from a poultry worker during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) among chickens at a poultry farm in Astrakhan, Russia in December 2020. Nasopharyngeal swabs collected from seven poultry workers were positive for influenza A(H5N8), as confirmed by RT-PCR and sequencing. The influenza A(H5N8) virus was isolated from one of the human specimens and characterised. Sporadic human influenza A(H5)2.3.4.4. infections represent a possible concern for public health.