Assessment of the zoonotic potential of the ruminant-associated influenza D virus

Influenza viruses are notorious pathogens that frequently cross the species barrier with often severe consequences for both animal and human health. In 2011, a novel member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, Influenza D virus (IDV), was identified in the respiratory tract of pigs with influenza-like sy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inbioRxiv
Main Authors Holwerda, Melle, Portmann, Jasmine, Stalder, Hanspeter, Dijkman, Ronald
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 23.08.2018
Subjects
Antibodies
Epidemiology
Epithelial cells
Epithelium
Genetic crosses
Influenza
Influenza C
Inoculation
Interferon
Livestock
Occupational exposure
Offspring
Replication
Respiratory tract
Tropism
Viruses
Zoonoses
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Summary:Influenza viruses are notorious pathogens that frequently cross the species barrier with often severe consequences for both animal and human health. In 2011, a novel member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, Influenza D virus (IDV), was identified in the respiratory tract of pigs with influenza-like symptoms and subsequently also in cattle, a species that previously never was associated with influenza virus infection. Epidemiological surveys among livestock demonstrated that IDV is worldwide distributed among ruminants, but the most striking observation is the detection of IDV-directed antibodies among humans with occupational exposure to livestock. As a first step toward identifying the zoonotic potential of the newly emerging IDV we determined the replication kinetics and cell tropism at the primary site of replication using an in vitro respiratory epithelium model of humans. The inoculation of IDV on human airway epithelial cell (hAEC) cultures revealed efficient replication kinetics and apical progeny virus release of IDV at different body temperatures. Intriguingly, the replication characteristics of IDV revealed many similarities to the human-associated Influenza C virus, including the predominant cell tropism for ciliated cells. Moreover, analysis of the host response during IDV infection revealed only a pronounced upregulation of Type III interferon (IFN) transcripts. Nevertheless, viral progeny virus is replication competent and can be efficiently sub-passaged in hAEC cultures from different donors. Highlighting, that there is no intrinsic impairment of IDV replication within the human respiratory epithelium and might explain why IDV-directed antibodies can be detected among humans with occupational exposure to livestock.
DOI:10.1101/395517