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Genetic characterization of novel reassortant H5N6-subtype influenza viruses isolated from cats in eastern China

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Abstract

Cats are susceptible to influenza A viruses and therefore may act as transmission vectors within households, posing a potential public health concern. Two novel reassortant H5N6 influenza viruses were isolated from cats in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China, in 2016. Both viruses were characterized by whole-genome sequencing with subsequent phylogenetic analysis and genetic comparison. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these viruses received their genes from H5N6, H9N2, and H7N9 influenza viruses isolated from China. These H5N6 viruses were able to replicate in mice without prior adaptation. Our results show that continued circulation of these viruses could endanger humans.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor Jiagang Wang at the College of Animal, Zhejiang University, for technical assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Institute, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Science, 198 Shiqiao Road, Hangzhou, 310021, Zhejiang, China

    Xueliang Cao & Lihua Xu

  2. Dezhou College, Dezhou, 253023, Shandong, China

    Xueliang Cao

  3. State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, 310003, Zhejiang, China

    Fan Yang & Haibo Wu

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  1. Xueliang Cao
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  3. Haibo Wu
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  4. Lihua Xu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Haibo Wu or Lihua Xu.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation of the People’s Republic of China (81502852).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they had no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The animal studies were approved by the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University (no. 2015-015).

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 78 kb)

705_2017_3490_MOESM2_ESM.doc

Supplementary material 2 (DOC 906 kb) Fig. S1 Phylogenetic analysis of the PB2 (positions 1–2280), PB1 (positions 16–2268), PA (positions 1–2151), NP (positions 1–1497), M (positions 29–923), and NS (positions 28–768) of H5N6 influenza viruses. Chinese influenza viruses from cats in this study are indicated by triangles, and the novel 2014–2015 H5N6 influenza viruses that caused human infection are indicated by dots. The scale bar represents the distance between sequence pairs

705_2017_3490_MOESM3_ESM.jpg

Supplementary material 3 (JPEG 184 kb) Fig. S2 Comparison of deduced amino acid sequences of HA using the BioEdit program. The N-linked glycosylation site (NHT) and the right edge of the receptor-binding pocket (GVSAA) are shown in boxes

705_2017_3490_MOESM4_ESM.jpg

Supplementary material 4 (JPEG 51 kb) Fig. S3 Weight variation of BABL/c mice infected with the H5N6 influenza virus. Each mouse in a group was infected intranasally with 106.0 EID50 of virus in a volume of 0.05 ml. The body weight of mice was measured daily from the date of challenge to 14 days after challenge

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Cao, X., Yang, F., Wu, H. et al. Genetic characterization of novel reassortant H5N6-subtype influenza viruses isolated from cats in eastern China. Arch Virol 162, 3501–3505 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3490-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3490-2

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