Rapid evolution of A(H5N1) influenza viruses after intercontinental spread to North America

Ahmed Kandeil, Christopher Patton, Jeremy C. Jones, Trushar Jeevan, Walter N. Harrington, Sanja Trifkovic, Jon P. Seiler, Thomas Fabrizio, Karlie Woodard, Jasmine C. Turner, Jeri-Carol Crumpton, Lance Miller, Adam Rubrum, Jennifer DeBeauchamp, Charles J. Russell, Elena A. Govorkova, Peter Vogel, Mia Kim-Torchetti, Yohannes Berhane, David Stallknecht, Rebecca Poulson, Lisa Kercher and Richard J. Webby ()
Additional contact information
Ahmed Kandeil: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Christopher Patton: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jeremy C. Jones: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Trushar Jeevan: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Walter N. Harrington: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Sanja Trifkovic: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jon P. Seiler: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Thomas Fabrizio: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Karlie Woodard: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jasmine C. Turner: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jeri-Carol Crumpton: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Lance Miller: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Adam Rubrum: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jennifer DeBeauchamp: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Charles J. Russell: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Elena A. Govorkova: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Peter Vogel: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Mia Kim-Torchetti: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Yohannes Berhane: National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease
David Stallknecht: The University of Georgia
Rebecca Poulson: The University of Georgia
Lisa Kercher: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Richard J. Webby: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b underwent an explosive geographic expansion in 2021 among wild birds and domestic poultry across Asia, Europe, and Africa. By the end of 2021, 2.3.4.4b viruses were detected in North America, signifying further intercontinental spread. Here we show that the western movement of clade 2.3.4.4b was quickly followed by reassortment with viruses circulating in wild birds in North America, resulting in the acquisition of different combinations of ribonucleoprotein genes. These reassortant A(H5N1) viruses are genotypically and phenotypically diverse, with many causing severe disease with dramatic neurologic involvement in mammals. The proclivity of the current A(H5N1) 2.3.4.4b virus lineage to reassort and target the central nervous system warrants concerted planning to combat the spread and evolution of the virus within the continent and to mitigate the impact of a potential influenza pandemic that could originate from similar A(H5N1) reassortants.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38415-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-38415-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38415-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().