Front Cell Infect Microbiol
. 2021 Jun 7;11:688007.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.688007. eCollection 2021.
Risk of Environmental Exposure to H7N9 Influenza Virus via Airborne and Surface Routes in a Live Poultry Market in Hebei, China
Cheng Zhang 1 2 , Kangkang Guo 1 2 , Huan Cui 2 3 , Ligong Chen 1 , Chunmao Zhang 2 , Xuejing Wang 1 , Jiaming Li 4 , Yingying Fu 4 , Zhongyi Wang 4 , Zhendong Guo 2 , Juxiang Liu 1 , Shishan Dong 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 34164347
- PMCID: PMC8216215
- DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.688007
Abstract
Environmental transmission of viruses to humans has become an early warning for potential epidemic outbreaks, such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus outbreaks. Recently, an H7N9 virus, A/environment/Hebei/621/2019 (H7N9), was isolated by environmental swabs from a live poultry market in Hebei, China. We found that this isolate could be transmitted by direct contact and aerosol in mammals. More importantly, after 5 passages in mice, the virus acquired two adaptive mutations, PB1-H115Q and B2-E627K, exhibiting increased virulence and aerosol transmissibility. These results suggest that this H7N9 virus might potentially be transmitted between humans through environmental or airborne routes.
Keywords: H7N9 virus; environmental and airborne transmissibility; human exposure risk; mammalian adaption; pathogenicity.