Genetic Characterization of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N8) Virus from Domestic Ducks, England, November 2014 - Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Genetic Characterization of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N8) Virus from Domestic Ducks, England, November 2014 - Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 21, Number 5—May 2015

Dispatch

Genetic Characterization of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N8) Virus from Domestic Ducks, England, November 2014

On This Page

• The Study
• Conclusions
• Suggested Citation

Figures

• Figure 1
• Figure 2

Tables

• Table 1
• Table 2

Technical Appendicies

• Technical Appendix

Downloads

• PDF[869 KB - 4 pgs]
• RIS[TXT - 2 KB]

Amanda Hanna , Jill Banks, Denise A. Marston, Richard J. Ellis, Sharon M. Brookes, and Ian H. Brown

Author affiliations: Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone, UK

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Genetic sequences of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) virus in England have high homology to those detected in mainland Europe and Asia during 2014. Genetic characterization suggests this virus is an avian-adapted virus without specific affinity for zoonoses. Spatio-temporal detections of H5N8 imply a role for wild birds in virus spread.

Aquatic birds are considered to be the natural reservoir of low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses of subtypes H1–H16; in these birds, including ducks, they generally do not cause clinical signs (1). In contrast, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of certain H5 and H7 strains cause high death rates in poultry with substantial economic losses and are thought to be derived from low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses of wild bird origin. China, Japan, and South Korea have reported outbreaks of highly related HPAI (H5N8) virus in poultry and migratory birds since early 2014 (2,3). Germany and the Netherlands have reported outbreaks among poultry with closely related H5N8 viruses in turkey, chicken, and duck farms since early November 2014. On November 16, 2014, an outbreak of HPAI (H5N8) virus was confirmed on a duck breeding farm in East Yorkshire, England, UK (4). The premises contained 6,000 breeding ducks ≈60 weeks of age housed in 3 sheds; the ducks showed only mild clinical signs of illness.

Miss Hanna is a research scientist at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge, UK. Her primary research interests are genetic characterization and pathogenesis studies of avian influenza viruses.

Acknowledgments

We thank the avian influenza team at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA-Weybridge). We thank Vanessa Ceeraz, James Seekings, Alejandro Nuñez, Scott Reid, and Vivien Coward for investigative testing, Brandon Löndt for assistance with sequence mutation analysis, and Charlotte Cook for assisting in implementing the BEAST program. We also thank Dan Horton for his guidance with the BEAST analysis.

This work was supported financially by Defra (Project SV3400) and the European Commission through their support of the Avian Influenza EU reference laboratory at APHA.

References

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Figures

• Figure 1. Maximum clade credibility tree of 31 H5 sequences derived from the hemagglutinin gene of avian influenza viruses (1,608 nt). Sampling dates and locations are included on the tip labels;...
• Figure 2. Maximum clade credibility tree of 31 N8 sequences derived from the neuraminidase gene of avian influenza viruses (1377 nt). Sampling dates and locations are included on the tip labels;...

Tables

• Table 1. Genome sequence comparisons of 3 highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) viruses from domestic ducks, England, November 2014
• Table 2. Genetic mutations identified in highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) virus isolate A/duck/England/36254/2014 that might result in phenotypic consequences, England, 2014

Technical Appendix

• Technical Appendix. Methods for genetic characterization of HPAI H5N8 virus among domestic ducks in England.  26 KB

Suggested citation for this article: Hanna A, Banks J, Marston DA, Ellis RJ, Brookes SM, Brown IH. Genetic characterization of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) virus from domestic ducks, England, November 2014. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 May [date cited].http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2105.141954

DOI: 10.3201/eid2105.141954