Characterization of avian influenza viruses A (H5N1) from wild birds, Hong Kong, 2004-2008

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 402 - 407
• Main Authors: Smith, Gavin J D, Vijaykrishna, Dhanasekaran, Ellis, Trevor M, Dyrting, Kitman C, Leung, Y H Connie, Bahl, Justin, Wong, Chun W, Kai, Huang, Chow, Mary K W, Duan, Lian, Chan, Allen S L, Zhang, Li Juan, Chen, Honglin, Luk, Geraldine S M, Peiris, J S Malik, Guan, Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.03.2009; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Wild; Animals, Wild - virology; Avian influenza; Bird Diseases; Bird Diseases - epidemiology; Bird Diseases - virology; Birds; Birds - virology; Chemical properties; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; Highly pathogenic avian influenza; Hong Kong; Hong Kong - epidemiology; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - classification; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - genetics; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype - isolation & purification; Influenza in Birds; Influenza in Birds - epidemiology; Influenza in Birds - virology; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; molecular epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Poultry industry; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Virology; virus evolution; Hong Kong; China
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid1503.081190

From January 2004 through June 2008, surveillance of dead wild birds in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, periodically detected highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses (H5N1) in individual birds from different species. During this period, no viruses of subtype H5N1 were detected in poultry on farms and in markets in Hong Kong despite intensive surveillance. Thus, these findings in wild birds demonstrate the potential for wild birds to disseminate HPAI viruses (H5N1) to areas otherwise free from the viruses. Genetic and antigenic characterization of 47 HPAI (H5N1) viruses isolated from dead wild birds in Hong Kong showed that these isolates belonged to 2 antigenically distinct virus groups: clades 2.3.4 and 2.3.2. Although research has shown that clade 2.3.4 viruses are established in poultry in Asia, the emergence of clade 2.3.2 viruses in nonpasserine birds from Hong Kong, Japan, and Russia raises the possibility that this virus lineage may have become established in wild birds.