Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases, full page: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
The Novel Avian-Origin Human A (H7N9) Influenza Virus Could be Transmitted between Ferrets via Respiratory Droplets
Lili Xu 1,?, Linlin Bao 1,?, Wei Deng 1,?, Libo Dong 3,?, Hua Zhu 1, Ting Chen 1, Qi Lv 1, Fengdi Li 1, Jing Yuan 1, Zhiguang Xiang 1, Kai Gao 1, Yanfeng Xu 1, Lan Huang 1, Yanhong Li 1, Jiangning Liu 1, Yanfeng Yao 1, Pin Yu 1, Xiyan Li 2, Weijuan Huang 2, Xiang Zhao 2, Yu Lan 2, Junfeng Guo 2, Weidong Yong 1, Qiang Wei 1, Honglin Chen 3, Lianfeng Zhang 1 and Chuan Qin 1,*
Author Affiliations: <SUP>1</SUP>Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical Collage (PUMC); Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China <SUP>2</SUP>State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, Chinese National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China <SUP>3</SUP>State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and the Research Centre of Infection andImmunology, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: qinchuan@pumc.edu.cn
? These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
The outbreak of human infections caused by the novel avian-origin H7N9 subtype influenza viruses in China since March 2013 underscores the need to better understand the pathogenicityand transmissibility of these viruses in mammals.In a ferret model, the H7N9 influenza virus was found to be less pathogenic than a H5N1 virus but was comparable withthe 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus, based on the clinical signs, mortality, virus dissemination, and histopathological analyses. The H7N9 virus could replicate in the upper and lower respiratory tract, heart, liver, and olfactory bulb. It is worth noting that the H7N9 virus exhibited low level of transmission between ferrets via respiratory droplets. There were four mutations in the virus isolated from the contact ferret which were D678Y in PB2, R157 K in HA(H3 numbering), I109T in NP, and T10I in NA. These data emphasized that the avian-origin H7N9 subtype influenza virus has the ability to transmit between mammals, highlighting the potential of human-to-human transmissibility.
Received June 29, 2013. Revision received August 2, 2013. Accepted August 5, 2013.
? The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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The Novel Avian-Origin Human A (H7N9) Influenza Virus Could be Transmitted between Ferrets via Respiratory Droplets
Lili Xu 1,?, Linlin Bao 1,?, Wei Deng 1,?, Libo Dong 3,?, Hua Zhu 1, Ting Chen 1, Qi Lv 1, Fengdi Li 1, Jing Yuan 1, Zhiguang Xiang 1, Kai Gao 1, Yanfeng Xu 1, Lan Huang 1, Yanhong Li 1, Jiangning Liu 1, Yanfeng Yao 1, Pin Yu 1, Xiyan Li 2, Weijuan Huang 2, Xiang Zhao 2, Yu Lan 2, Junfeng Guo 2, Weidong Yong 1, Qiang Wei 1, Honglin Chen 3, Lianfeng Zhang 1 and Chuan Qin 1,*
Author Affiliations: <SUP>1</SUP>Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) & Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical Collage (PUMC); Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China <SUP>2</SUP>State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, Chinese National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China <SUP>3</SUP>State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and the Research Centre of Infection andImmunology, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: qinchuan@pumc.edu.cn
? These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
The outbreak of human infections caused by the novel avian-origin H7N9 subtype influenza viruses in China since March 2013 underscores the need to better understand the pathogenicityand transmissibility of these viruses in mammals.In a ferret model, the H7N9 influenza virus was found to be less pathogenic than a H5N1 virus but was comparable withthe 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus, based on the clinical signs, mortality, virus dissemination, and histopathological analyses. The H7N9 virus could replicate in the upper and lower respiratory tract, heart, liver, and olfactory bulb. It is worth noting that the H7N9 virus exhibited low level of transmission between ferrets via respiratory droplets. There were four mutations in the virus isolated from the contact ferret which were D678Y in PB2, R157 K in HA(H3 numbering), I109T in NP, and T10I in NA. These data emphasized that the avian-origin H7N9 subtype influenza virus has the ability to transmit between mammals, highlighting the potential of human-to-human transmissibility.
Received June 29, 2013. Revision received August 2, 2013. Accepted August 5, 2013.
? The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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