Ahead of Print -Novel Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Influenza A H5 Viruses in Wild Birds, Washington, USA, 2014 - Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Ahead of Print -Novel Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Influenza A H5 Viruses in Wild Birds, Washington, USA, 2014 - Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015

Dispatch

Novel Eurasian Highly Pathogenic Influenza A H5 Viruses in Wild Birds, Washington, USA, 2014

On This Page

• Case Reports
• Conclusions
• Suggested Citation

Figures

• Figure 1
• Figure 2

Tables

• Table 1
• Table 2

Technical Appendicies

• Technical Appendix

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Hon S. Ip1, Mia Kim Torchetti1 , Rocio Crespo, Paul Kohrs, Paul DeBruyn, Kristin G. Mansfield, Timothy Baszler, Lyndon Badcoe, Barbara Bodenstein, Valerie Shearn-Bochsler, Mary Lea Killian, Janice C. Pedersen, Nichole Hines, Thomas Gidlewski, Thomas DeLiberto, and Jonathan M. Sleeman

Author affiliations: US Geologic Survey–National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (H.S. Ip, B. Bodenstein, V. Shearn-Bochsler, J.M. Sleeman); US Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa, USA (M.K. Torchetti, M.L. Killian, J.C. Pedersen, N. Hines); Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA (R. Crespo, T. Baszler); Washington Department of Agriculture, Olympia, Washington, USA (P. Kohrs, T. Baszler, L. Badcoe);Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia (P. DeBruyn, K.G. Mansfield); US Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA (T. Gidlewski, T. DeLiberto)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Novel Eurasian lineage avian influenza A(H5N8) virus has spread rapidly and globally since January 2014. In December 2014, H5N8 and reassortant H5N2 viruses were detected in wild birds in Washington, USA, and subsequently in backyard birds. When they infect commercial poultry, these highly pathogenic viruses pose substantial trade issues.

The novel Eurasian lineage clade 2.3.4.4 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N8) virus (http://www.who.int/influenza/gisrs_laboratory/h5_nomenclature_clade2344/en/) spread rapidly and globally during 2014, substantially affecting poultry populations. The first outbreaks were reported during January 2014 in chickens and domestic ducks in South Korea and subsequently in China and Japan (1–4), reaching Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom by November 2014 and Italy in early December 2014 (5). Also in November 2014, a novel HPAI H5N2 virus was reported in outbreaks on chicken and turkey farms in Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada (5). This H5N2 influenza virus is a reassortant that contains the Eurasian clade 2.3.4.4 H5 plus 4 other Eurasian genes (polymerase acidic protein subunit, matrix protein, polymerase basic protein subunit [PB] 2, nonstructural protein) and 3 North American wild bird lineage genes (neuraminidase [NA], nucleoprotein, PB1) (5). Taiwan has recently reported novel reassortants of the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 with other Eurasian viruses (H5N2, H5N3).

The appearance of highly similar Eurasian H5N8 viruses in Asia, Europe, and now the United States suggests that this novel reassortant may be well adapted to certain waterfowl species, enabling it to survive long migrations (6). These appearances also represent a major change in Eurasian H5 virus circulation. After the reported spread of HPAI H5N1 virus in Asia, a large, interagency avian influenza virus (AIV) surveillance effort was implemented throughout the United States during April 2006–March 2011 (7). Of nearly 500,000 wild bird samples tested, none harbored Eurasian subtype H5 AIV. The overall prevalence of AIV was ≈11%, and most viruses (86%) were detected in dabbling ducks (family Anatidae) (8). Although H5N8 subtype viruses have been detected previously in the United States, all have been low pathogenicity AIV of North American wild bird lineage.

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the dedicated staff at our respective institutions, who ensured timely field support, rapid response, and prompt and accurate laboratory testing; in particular, Renee Long, Katy Griffin, Jeffery Messer, Karin McMullen, Amber Itle, and Thomas Gilliom.

References

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Figures

• Figure 1. Phylogenetic comparison of the complete hemagglutinin genes of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N2) and A(H5N8) strains from the United States with strains from Asia, Europe, and Canada. Solid circles...
• Figure 2. Phylogenetic comparison of the complete neuraminidase genes of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N2) (panel A) and A(H5N8) (panel B) strains from the United States with strains from Asia, Europe,...

Tables

• Table 1. Summary of influenza test results for samples from 10 birds from Washington, USA, 2014
• Table 2. Nucleotide identity between the influenza A(H5N2) and A(H5N8) viruses from Washington, USA, and their nearest homologues in GenBank as of January 8, 2015

Technical Appendix

• Technical Appendix. Phylogenetic analysis of the 6 internal genes of the influenza A(H5N2) and A(H5N8) viruses.  1.71 MB

Suggested citation for this article: Ip HS, Torchetti MK, Crespo R, Kohrs P, DeBruyn P, Mansfield KG, et al. Novel Eurasian highly pathogenic influenza A H5 viruses in wild birds, Washington, USA, 2014. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 May [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2105.142020

DOI: 10.3201/eid2105.142020

1These first authors contributed equally to this article.