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. 2016 Jul 7;31(4):300–305. doi: 10.1007/s12250-016-3750-4

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.2.1c virus in migratory birds, 2014–2015

Yuhai Bi 1,3,6,✉, Jianjun Chen 2,7, Zhenjie Zhang 4, Mingxin Li 2, Tianlong Cai 5, Kirill Sharshov 7, Ivan Susloparov 7, Alexander Shestopalov 7, Gary Wong 3, Yubang He 8, Zhi Xing 8, Jianqing Sun 8, Di Liu 3, Yingxia Liu 1, Lei Liu 1, Wenjun Liu 3,6, Fumin Lei 5,6, Weifeng Shi 4,✉, George F Gao 1,3,6,9
PMCID: PMC8193437  PMID: 27405930

Abstract

A novel Clade 2.3.2.1c H5N1 reassortant virus caused several outbreaks in wild birds in some regions of China from late 2014 to 2015. Based on the genetic and phylogenetic analyses, the viruses possess a stable gene constellation with a Clade 2.3.2.1c HA, a H9N2-derived PB2 gene and the other six genes of Asian H5N1-origin. The Clade 2.3.2.1c H5N1 reassortants displayed a high genetic relationship to a human H5N1 strain (A/Alberta/01/2014). Further analysis showed that similar viruses have been circulating in wild birds in China, Russia, Dubai (Western Asia), Bulgaria and Romania (Europe), as well as domestic poultry in some regions of Africa. The affected areas include the Central Asian, East Asian-Australasian, West Asian-East African, and Black Sea/Mediterranean flyways. These results show that the novel Clade 2.3.2.1c reassortant viruses are circulating worldwide and may have gained a selective advantage in migratory birds, thus posing a serious threat to wild birds and potentially humans.

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Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s12250-016-3750-4 and is accessible for authorized users.

Keywords: H5N1, highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, Clade 2.3.2.1c, outbreak, migratory birds

Electronic supplementary material

12250_2016_3750_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (1.4MB, pdf)

Supplementary material, approximately 3.96 MB.

12250_2016_3750_MOESM2_ESM.xls (30.5KB, xls)

Supplementary material, approximately 32 KB.

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this article.

ORCID: 0000-0002-5595-363X

ORCID: 0000-0002-8717-2942

Contributor Information

Yuhai Bi, Phone: +86-10-64806013, Email: Beeyh@im.ac.cn.

Weifeng Shi, Phone: +86-538-622502, Email: shiwf@ioz.ac.cn.

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Associated Data

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Supplementary Materials

12250_2016_3750_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (1.4MB, pdf)

Supplementary material, approximately 3.96 MB.

12250_2016_3750_MOESM2_ESM.xls (30.5KB, xls)

Supplementary material, approximately 32 KB.

Articles from Virologica Sinica are provided here courtesy of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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