Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: PLoS ONE, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
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Molecular Surveillance of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Wild Birds across the United States: Inferences from the Hemagglutinin Gene
Antoinette J. Piaggio<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, Susan A. Shriner<SUP>1</SUP>, Kaci K. VanDalen<SUP>1</SUP>, Alan B. Franklin<SUP>1</SUP>, Theodore D. Anderson<SUP>1</SUP>, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis<SUP>2</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America, 2 Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America and Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, United States of America
Abstract
A United States interagency avian influenza surveillance plan was initiated in 2006 for early detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) in wild birds. The plan included a variety of wild bird sampling strategies including the testing of fecal samples from aquatic areas throughout the United States from April 2006 through December 2007. Although HPAIV was not detected through this surveillance effort we were able to obtain 759 fecal samples that were positive for low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV). We used 136 DNA sequences obtained from these samples along with samples from a public influenza sequence database for a phylogenetic assessment of hemagglutinin (HA) diversity in the United States. We analyzed sequences from all HA subtypes except H5, H7, H14 and H15 to examine genetic variation, exchange between Eurasia and North America, and geographic distribution of LPAIV in wild birds in the United States. This study confirms intercontinental exchange of some HA subtypes (including a newly documented H9 exchange event), as well as identifies subtypes that do not regularly experience intercontinental gene flow but have been circulating and evolving in North America for at least the past 20 years. These HA subtypes have high levels of genetic diversity with many lineages co-circulating within the wild birds of North America. The surveillance effort that provided these samples demonstrates that such efforts, albeit labor-intensive, provide important information about the ecology of LPAIV circulating in North America.
Citation: Piaggio AJ, Shriner SA, VanDalen KK, Franklin AB, Anderson TD, et al. (2012) Molecular Surveillance of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Wild Birds across the United States: Inferences from the Hemagglutinin Gene. PLoS ONE 7(12): e50834. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050834
Editor: Ron A. M. Fouchier, Erasmus Medical Center, The Netherlands
Received: April 4, 2012; Accepted: October 29, 2012; Published: December 4, 2012
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
Funding: This study was primarily funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. SOK was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: toni.j.piaggio@aphis.usda.gov
-Antoinette J. Piaggio<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, Susan A. Shriner<SUP>1</SUP>, Kaci K. VanDalen<SUP>1</SUP>, Alan B. Franklin<SUP>1</SUP>, Theodore D. Anderson<SUP>1</SUP>, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis<SUP>2</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America, 2 Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America and Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, United States of America
Abstract
A United States interagency avian influenza surveillance plan was initiated in 2006 for early detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) in wild birds. The plan included a variety of wild bird sampling strategies including the testing of fecal samples from aquatic areas throughout the United States from April 2006 through December 2007. Although HPAIV was not detected through this surveillance effort we were able to obtain 759 fecal samples that were positive for low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV). We used 136 DNA sequences obtained from these samples along with samples from a public influenza sequence database for a phylogenetic assessment of hemagglutinin (HA) diversity in the United States. We analyzed sequences from all HA subtypes except H5, H7, H14 and H15 to examine genetic variation, exchange between Eurasia and North America, and geographic distribution of LPAIV in wild birds in the United States. This study confirms intercontinental exchange of some HA subtypes (including a newly documented H9 exchange event), as well as identifies subtypes that do not regularly experience intercontinental gene flow but have been circulating and evolving in North America for at least the past 20 years. These HA subtypes have high levels of genetic diversity with many lineages co-circulating within the wild birds of North America. The surveillance effort that provided these samples demonstrates that such efforts, albeit labor-intensive, provide important information about the ecology of LPAIV circulating in North America.
Citation: Piaggio AJ, Shriner SA, VanDalen KK, Franklin AB, Anderson TD, et al. (2012) Molecular Surveillance of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Viruses in Wild Birds across the United States: Inferences from the Hemagglutinin Gene. PLoS ONE 7(12): e50834. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050834
Editor: Ron A. M. Fouchier, Erasmus Medical Center, The Netherlands
Received: April 4, 2012; Accepted: October 29, 2012; Published: December 4, 2012
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
Funding: This study was primarily funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. SOK was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: toni.j.piaggio@aphis.usda.gov
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