Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N6 Viruses Exhibit Enhanced Affinity for Human Type Sialic Acid Receptor and In … – Journal of Virology

1. Honglei Sun^a,
2. Juan Pu^a,
3. Yandi Wei^a,
4. Yipeng Sun^a,
5. Jiao Hu^b,
6. Litao Liu^a,
7. Guanlong Xu^a,
8. Weihua Gao^a,
9. Chong Li^a,
10. Xuxiao Zhang^a,
11. Yinhua Huang^a,
12. Kin-Chow Chang^c,
13. Xiufan Liu^b and
14. Jinhua Liu^a

1. ^aCrucial Laboratory of Pet Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine and State Crucial Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
2. ^bPet Infectious Ailment Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
3. ^cSchool of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Since Could 2014, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 virus has actually been reported to trigger 6 serious human infections three of which were fatal. The biological properties of this subtype, in particular its relative pathogenicity and transmissibility in mammals, are not known. We characterized the virus receptor-binding affinity, pathogenicity, and transmissibility in mice and ferrets of four H5N6 isolates derived from waterfowl in China from 2013-2014. Every one of four H5N6 viruses have actually acquired a binding affinity for human-adore SAα2,6Gal-linked receptor to have the ability to attach to human tracheal epithelial and alveolar cells. The emergent H5N6 viruses, which share higher sequence similarity along with the human isolate A/Guangzhou/39715/2014 (H5N6), were fully infective and highly transmissible by direct contact in ferrets however showed less-serious pathogenicity compared to the parental H5N1 virus. The present outcomes highlight the threat of emergent H5N6 viruses to poultry and human good health and the have to carefully monitor their continual adaptation in humans.

IMPORTANCE Extended epizootics and panzootics of H5N1 viruses have actually led to the emergence of the novel 2.3.4.4 clade of H5 virus subtypes, including H5N2, H5N6, and H5N8 reassortants. Avian H5N6 viruses from this clade have actually caused three fatalities from 6 serious human infections in China Because the very first case in 2014. However, the biological properties of this subtype, especially the pathogenicity and transmission in mammals, are not known. Here, we discovered that natural avian H5N6 viruses have actually acquired a higher affinity for human-type virus receptor. Compared to the parental clade 2.3.4 H5N1 virus, emergent H5N6 isolates showed much less serious pathogenicity in mice and ferrets however acquired efficient in-contact transmission in ferrets. These findings suggest that the threat of avian H5N6 viruses to people need to not be ignored.

FOOTNOTES

• • Received twenty January 2016.
  • Accepted 21 April 2016.
  • Accepted manuscript posted online 27 April 2016.
• Address correspondence to Jinhua Liu, ljh{at}cau.edu.cn.

• H.S., J.P., and Y.W. contributed equally as to this article.

• Citation Sun H, Pu J, Wei Y, Sun Y, Hu J, Liu L, Xu G, Gao W, Li C, Zhang X, Huang Y, Chang K-C, Liu X, Liu J. 2016. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets. J Virol 90:6235–6243. doi:10.1128/JVI.00127-16.

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• Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. Every one of Rights Reserved.

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