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hat tip CIDRAP and Shiloh
H15N2 found in wild bird in Russia
In the first known identification of an H15 influenza A subtype outside of Australia, Russian and US researchers have confirmed H15N4 in a teal in Siberia, according to their report in the Journal of Virology yesterday. During routine surveillance from May through September 2008, investigators collected 1,445 cloacal swab samples from healthy wild birds, from which 25 avian flu viruses were isolated. One of these, from a common teal (Anas crecca), was subtyped as H15N4, the first time an H15 strain has been confirmed outside of Australia. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus's internal genes belong to the Eurasian clade, and that the H15 and N4 genes were introduced into circulating avian flu viruses through reassortment.
Jan 2 J Virol abstract
H15N2 found in wild bird in Russia
In the first known identification of an H15 influenza A subtype outside of Australia, Russian and US researchers have confirmed H15N4 in a teal in Siberia, according to their report in the Journal of Virology yesterday. During routine surveillance from May through September 2008, investigators collected 1,445 cloacal swab samples from healthy wild birds, from which 25 avian flu viruses were isolated. One of these, from a common teal (Anas crecca), was subtyped as H15N4, the first time an H15 strain has been confirmed outside of Australia. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus's internal genes belong to the Eurasian clade, and that the H15 and N4 genes were introduced into circulating avian flu viruses through reassortment.
Jan 2 J Virol abstract