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Eurosurveillance, Volume 20, Issue 13, 02 April 2015
EMERGENCE OF A NOVEL CLUSTER OF INFLUENZA A(H5N1) VIRUS CLADE 2.2.1.2 WITH PUTATIVE HUMAN HEALTH IMPACT IN EGYPT, 2014/15
A S Arafa1,2, M M Naguib1,2,3, C Luttermann3, A A Selim1, W H Kilany1, N Hagag1, A Samy1, A Abdelhalim1, M K Hassan1, E M Abdelwhab1, Y Makonnen4, G Dauphin5, J Lubroth5, T C Mettenleiter3, M Beer3, C Grund3, T C Harder (
)3
Citation style for this article: Arafa AS, Naguib MM, Luttermann C, Selim AA, Kilany WH, Hagag N, Samy A, Abdelhalim A, Hassan MK, Abdelwhab EM, Makonnen Y, Dauphin G, Lubroth J, Mettenleiter TC, Beer M, Grund C, Harder TC. Emergence of a novel cluster of influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.2.1.2 with putative human health impact in Egypt, 2014/15. Euro Surveill. 2015;20(13):pii=21085. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=21085
Date of submission: 27 March 2015
A distinct cluster of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of subtype A(H5N1) has been found to emerge within clade 2.2.1.2 in poultry in Egypt since summer 2014 and appears to have quickly become predominant. Viruses of this cluster may be associated with increased incidence of human influenza A(H5N1) infections in Egypt over the last months.
snip
Our data confirm the emergence of an additional virus cluster within the Egyptian 2.2.1.2 clade of H5N1 HPAI viruses. Since November 2014, viruses of this new cluster appear to have become dominant over the previously described clade 2.2.1.2 phylotypes circulating in various poultry species. The only two publicly available sequences of viruses isolated from recent human H5N1 cases in Egypt show similar mutation patterns and fall into the same phylogenetic group. The molecular determinants that may improve the evolutionary fitness of these viruses need to be further clarified. The emergence of new clusters of H5N1 HPAI viruses in Egypt is not without precedence: In late 2007, a subclade of antigenic drift variants, later designated 2.2.1.1, emerged and expanded (clade 2.2.1.1a) in commercial poultry in Egypt but disappeared until end of 2010 [14] and, contrary to the current situation, did not replace 2.2.1 viruses. Viruses of clade 2.2.1.1 that emerged in 2007 hardly caused any human cases: according to the OpenFlu database [15]: only one of 100 H5N1 isolates from humans in Egypt belonged to clade 2.2.1.1; all others belonged to clade 2.2.1 and 2.2.1.2. In contrast, the emerging cluster identified in this study seems to be predominant across all poultry production sectors and has already caused a third of all human infections reported in Egypt since 2006 in only three months of 2015.
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=21085
EMERGENCE OF A NOVEL CLUSTER OF INFLUENZA A(H5N1) VIRUS CLADE 2.2.1.2 WITH PUTATIVE HUMAN HEALTH IMPACT IN EGYPT, 2014/15
A S Arafa1,2, M M Naguib1,2,3, C Luttermann3, A A Selim1, W H Kilany1, N Hagag1, A Samy1, A Abdelhalim1, M K Hassan1, E M Abdelwhab1, Y Makonnen4, G Dauphin5, J Lubroth5, T C Mettenleiter3, M Beer3, C Grund3, T C Harder (
- National Laboratory for Veterinary Quality Control on Poultry Production, Animal Health Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt
- These authors have contributed equally
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald Insel-Riems, Germany
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Emergency Centre for Transboundary animal Diseases (ECTAD), Cairo, Egypt
- Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Animal Production and Health division, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy
Citation style for this article: Arafa AS, Naguib MM, Luttermann C, Selim AA, Kilany WH, Hagag N, Samy A, Abdelhalim A, Hassan MK, Abdelwhab EM, Makonnen Y, Dauphin G, Lubroth J, Mettenleiter TC, Beer M, Grund C, Harder TC. Emergence of a novel cluster of influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.2.1.2 with putative human health impact in Egypt, 2014/15. Euro Surveill. 2015;20(13):pii=21085. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=21085
Date of submission: 27 March 2015
A distinct cluster of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of subtype A(H5N1) has been found to emerge within clade 2.2.1.2 in poultry in Egypt since summer 2014 and appears to have quickly become predominant. Viruses of this cluster may be associated with increased incidence of human influenza A(H5N1) infections in Egypt over the last months.
snip
Our data confirm the emergence of an additional virus cluster within the Egyptian 2.2.1.2 clade of H5N1 HPAI viruses. Since November 2014, viruses of this new cluster appear to have become dominant over the previously described clade 2.2.1.2 phylotypes circulating in various poultry species. The only two publicly available sequences of viruses isolated from recent human H5N1 cases in Egypt show similar mutation patterns and fall into the same phylogenetic group. The molecular determinants that may improve the evolutionary fitness of these viruses need to be further clarified. The emergence of new clusters of H5N1 HPAI viruses in Egypt is not without precedence: In late 2007, a subclade of antigenic drift variants, later designated 2.2.1.1, emerged and expanded (clade 2.2.1.1a) in commercial poultry in Egypt but disappeared until end of 2010 [14] and, contrary to the current situation, did not replace 2.2.1 viruses. Viruses of clade 2.2.1.1 that emerged in 2007 hardly caused any human cases: according to the OpenFlu database [15]: only one of 100 H5N1 isolates from humans in Egypt belonged to clade 2.2.1.1; all others belonged to clade 2.2.1 and 2.2.1.2. In contrast, the emerging cluster identified in this study seems to be predominant across all poultry production sectors and has already caused a third of all human infections reported in Egypt since 2006 in only three months of 2015.
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/View...rticleId=21085