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Emergence of a novel reassortant avian influenza virus (H10N3) in Eastern China with high pathogenicity and respiratory droplet transmissibility to mammals

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Abstract

Decades have passed since the first discovery of H10-subtype avian influenza virus (AIV) in chickens in 1949, and it has been detected in many species including mammals such as minks, pigs, seals and humans. Cases of human infections with H10N8 viruses identified in China in 2013 have raised widespread attention. Two novel reassortant H10N3 viruses were isolated from chickens in December 2019 in eastern China during routine surveillance for AIVs. The internal genes of these viruses were derived from genotype S (G57) H9N2 and were consistent with H5N6, H7N9 and H10N8, which cause fatal infections in humans. Their viral pathogenicity and transmissibility were further studied in different animal models. The two H10N3 isolates had low pathogenicity in chickens and were transmitted between chickens via direct contact. These viruses were highly pathogenic in mice and could be transmitted between guinea pigs via direct contact and respiratory droplets. More importantly, these viruses can bind to both human-type SAα-2,6-Gal receptors and avian-type SAα-2,3-Gal receptors. Asymptomatic shedding in chickens and good adaptability to mammals of these H10N3 isolates would make it easier to transmit to humans and pose a threat to public health.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2016YFD0500202-1, 2016YFD0501601), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31 772755), Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (BK20170068), the Earmarked Fund For China Agriculture Research System (CARS-40), the Open Project Program of Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis (R1808) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Kaituo Liu, Pingyun Ding, Yuru Pei, Ruyi Gao, Wenwen Han, Huafen Zheng, Zhuxing Ji, Miao Cai, Jinyuan Gu, Xiuli Li, Min Gu, Jiao Hu, Xiaowen Liu, Shunlin Hu, Xiaobo Wang, Xiaoquan Wang & Xiufan Liu

  2. Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonosis, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Ruyi Gao, Min Gu, Jiao Hu, Xiaowen Liu, Shunlin Hu, Xiaoquan Wang & Xiufan Liu

  3. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Ruyi Gao, Min Gu, Jiao Hu, Xiaowen Liu, Shunlin Hu, Xiaoquan Wang & Xiufan Liu

  4. Institute of Translational Medicine, Key Laboratory of Geriatric Disease Prevention and Control of Jiangsu Province, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Pinghu Zhang

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  1. Kaituo Liu
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Liu, K., Ding, P., Pei, Y. et al. Emergence of a novel reassortant avian influenza virus (H10N3) in Eastern China with high pathogenicity and respiratory droplet transmissibility to mammals. Sci. China Life Sci. 65, 1024–1035 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-020-1981-5

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