Biological Properties and Genetic Characterization of Novel Low Pathogenic H7N3 Avian Influenza Viruses Isolated from Mallard Ducks in the Caspian Region, Dagestan, Russia

Microorganisms

卷:9

Ganna Kovalenko¹  Eric Bortz¹  Alimurad Gadzhiev²  Marzia Facchini³  Mauro Delogu⁴  Kseniya Yurchenko⁵  Alexander Shestopalov⁵  Ivan Sobolev⁵  Marina Gulyaeva⁵  Kirill Sharshov⁵  Tatiana Murashkina⁵  MariaAlessandra De Marco⁶ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA;

[2] Department of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Dagestan State University, 367000 Dagestan, Russia;

[3] Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy;

[4] Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia (BO), Italy;

[5] Federal State Budget Scientific Institution, Federal Research Center of Fundamental and Translational Medicine, 630117 Novosibirsk, Russia;

[6] ISPRA Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia (BO), Italy;

关键词: avian influenza virus;    H7N3;    Caspian region;    wild waterfowl;   

DOI  :  10.3390/microorganisms9040864

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are maintained in wild bird reservoirs, particularly in mallard ducks and other waterfowl. Novel evolutionary lineages of AIV that arise through genetic drift or reassortment can spread with wild bird migrations to new regions, infect a wide variety of resident bird species, and spillover to domestic poultry. The vast continental reservoir of AIVs in Eurasia harbors a wide diversity of influenza subtypes, including both highly pathogenic (HP) and low pathogenic (LP) H7 AIV. The Caspian Sea region is positioned at the intersection of major migratory flyways connecting Central Asia, Europe, the Black and Mediterranean Sea regions and Africa and holds a rich wetland and avian ecology. To understand genetic reservoirs present in the Caspian Sea region, we collected 559 cloacal swabs from Anseriformes and other species during the annual autumn migration periods in 2017 and 2018. We isolated two novel H7N3 LPAIV from mallard ducks whose H7 hemagglutinin (HA) gene was phylogenetically related to contemporaneous strains from distant Mongolia, and more closely Georgia and Ukraine, and predated the spread of this H7 LPAIV sublineage into East Asia in 2019. The N3 neuraminidase gene and internal genes were prototypical of AIV widely dispersed in wild bird reservoirs sampled along flyways connected to the Caspian region. The polymerase and nucleoprotein segments clustered with contemporaneous H5 HPAI (clade 2.3.4.4b) isolates, suggesting the wide dispersal of H7 LPAIV and the potential of this subtype for reassortment. These findings highlight the need for deeper surveillance of AIV in wild birds to better understand the extent of infection spread and evolution along spatial and temporal flyways in Eurasia.

【 授权许可】

Unknown