Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H7N3) Virus in Poultry Workers, Mexico, 2012

Irma Lopez-Martinez¹, Amanda Balish¹, Gisela Barrera-Badillo, Joyce Jones, Tatiana E. Nuñez-García, Yunho Jang, Rodrigo Aparicio-Antonio, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Jessica A. Belser, José E. Ramirez-Gonzalez, Janice C. Pedersen, Joanna Ortiz-Alcantara, Elizabeth Gonzalez-Duran, Bo Shu, Shannon L. Emery, Mee K. Poh, Gustavo Reyes-Teran, Joel A. Vazquez-Perez, Santiago Avila-Rios, Timothy Uyeki, Stephen Lindstrom, Julie Villanueva, Jerome Tokars, Cuitláhuac Ruiz-Matus, Jesus F. Gonzalez-Roldan, Beverly Schmitt, Alexander Klimov², Nancy Cox, Pablo Kuri-Morales, C. Todd Davis

, and José Alberto Diaz-Quiñonez

Author affiliations: Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Mexico City, Mexico (I. Lopez-Martinez, G. Barrera-Badillo, T.E. Nuñez-García, R. Aparicio-Antonio, J.E. Ramirez-Gonzalez, J. Ortiz-Alcantara, E. Gonzalez-Duran, J.A. Diaz-Quiñonez); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (A. Balish, J. Jones, Y. Jang, E. Azziz-Baumgartner, J.A. Belser, B. Shu, S.L. Emery, M.K. Poh, T. Uyeki, S. Lindstrom, J. Villanueva, J. Tokars, A. Klimov, N. Cox, C.T. Davis); US Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa, USA (J.C. Pedersen, B. Schmitt); Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico City (G. Reyes-Teran, J.A. Vazquez-Perez, S. Avila-Rios); Dirección General de Epidemiología, Mexico City (C. Ruiz-Matus, J.F. Gonzalez-Roldan); Subsecretaría de Prevención y Promoción de la Salud, Mexico City (P. Kuri-Morales)

Abstract

We identified 2 poultry workers with conjunctivitis caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H7N3) viruses in Jalisco, Mexico. Genomic and antigenic analyses of 1 isolate indicated relatedness to poultry and wild bird subtype H7N3 viruses from North America. This isolate had a multibasic cleavage site that might have been derived from recombination with host rRNA.

Although wild birds might be infected with influenza A(H7) viruses, outbreaks among poultry are rare. Human infection with influenza A(H7) virus is rare but has been documented after direct contact with infected birds (1). Conjunctivitis or upper respiratory tract symptoms developed in patients infected with this virus, and outcomes ranged from mild disease to death (1,2). In North America, 6 persons infected with influenza A(H7) virus have been reported; all patients recovered (2–6). We report the cases of 2 poultry workers with conjunctivitis caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H7N3) viruses during poultry-related outbreaks in Jalisco, Mexico (5).