tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Emerg Microbes Infect
. 2025 Dec;14(1):2564308.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2564308. Epub 2025 Oct 10. Efficient airborne transmission of influenza D virus in ferret models and serological evidence of human exposure in Northeast China
Hongbo Gao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weiyang Sun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pengyang Lu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zhipeng Dong[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jiajing Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuanguo Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wentao Wan[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Yue Feng[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bingshuo Qian[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Mingzhu Zhang[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yafei Wu[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Chunling Dong[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Beilei Shen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tiecheng Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xianzhu Xia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jie Zhang[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Wuchun Cao[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yuwei Gao[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Newly emerging influenza D virus (IDV), first identified in swine in 2011, has demonstrated broad mammalian tropism with notable prevalence in bovine populations and occupational exposure-associated seroprevalence among cattle workers. This zoonotic expansion raises concerns that IDV could acquire capability for human-to-human transmission via sustained evolving in mammal hosts. Here, we evaluated the infectivity and transmissibility of a currently circulating IDV strain, D/bovine/Jilin/HY11/2023 (abbreviated as D/HY11), isolated from cattle in Northeast China in 2023. D/HY11 was able to replicate efficiently in human primary respiratory epithelial cells and exhibits respiratory tract tropism in mammals. More importantly, we found that D/HY11 could efficiently transmit through the air between ferret models (5/6). Serological surveillance (2020-2024) revealed alarming exposure rates, with no significant difference in positivity between rural and urban populations: 73.37% (449/612) in the general population and an even higher rate of 96.67% (58/60) among individuals with respiratory symptoms. The extraordinary high IDV seropositivity among people in Northeast China highlights the possibility of silent spread in mammals with mild symptoms. Among generic anti-influenza drugs tested in vitro, only polymerase inhibitors demonstrated effective suppression of IDV replication. And the D/HY11 strain exhibited enhanced polymerase activity compared to the classical IDV strain, with preliminary evidence implicating the P3 gene as a potential contributing factor to this functional enhancement. Our pathogenetic and serological findings indicate that IDV may have acquired the capacity for human-to-human transmission during its ongoing evolution, and currently circulating IDV strains already pose a potential panzootic threat.
Keywords: Influenza D virus; airborne transmission; drug susceptibility; seropostivity; silent spread.
. 2025 Dec;14(1):2564308.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2564308. Epub 2025 Oct 10. Efficient airborne transmission of influenza D virus in ferret models and serological evidence of human exposure in Northeast China
Hongbo Gao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Weiyang Sun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pengyang Lu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zhipeng Dong[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Jiajing Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuanguo Li[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wentao Wan[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Yue Feng[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Bingshuo Qian[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Mingzhu Zhang[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yafei Wu[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Chunling Dong[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Beilei Shen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tiecheng Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xianzhu Xia[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jie Zhang[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Wuchun Cao[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Yuwei Gao[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 41069204
- DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2025.2564308
Newly emerging influenza D virus (IDV), first identified in swine in 2011, has demonstrated broad mammalian tropism with notable prevalence in bovine populations and occupational exposure-associated seroprevalence among cattle workers. This zoonotic expansion raises concerns that IDV could acquire capability for human-to-human transmission via sustained evolving in mammal hosts. Here, we evaluated the infectivity and transmissibility of a currently circulating IDV strain, D/bovine/Jilin/HY11/2023 (abbreviated as D/HY11), isolated from cattle in Northeast China in 2023. D/HY11 was able to replicate efficiently in human primary respiratory epithelial cells and exhibits respiratory tract tropism in mammals. More importantly, we found that D/HY11 could efficiently transmit through the air between ferret models (5/6). Serological surveillance (2020-2024) revealed alarming exposure rates, with no significant difference in positivity between rural and urban populations: 73.37% (449/612) in the general population and an even higher rate of 96.67% (58/60) among individuals with respiratory symptoms. The extraordinary high IDV seropositivity among people in Northeast China highlights the possibility of silent spread in mammals with mild symptoms. Among generic anti-influenza drugs tested in vitro, only polymerase inhibitors demonstrated effective suppression of IDV replication. And the D/HY11 strain exhibited enhanced polymerase activity compared to the classical IDV strain, with preliminary evidence implicating the P3 gene as a potential contributing factor to this functional enhancement. Our pathogenetic and serological findings indicate that IDV may have acquired the capacity for human-to-human transmission during its ongoing evolution, and currently circulating IDV strains already pose a potential panzootic threat.
Keywords: Influenza D virus; airborne transmission; drug susceptibility; seropostivity; silent spread.