Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets

Since May 2014, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 virus has been reported to cause six severe 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 viru...

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Main Authors: Sun, Honglei, Pu, Juan, Wei, Yandi, Sun, Yipeng, Hu, Jiao, Liu, Litao, Xu, Guanlong, Gao, Weihua, Li, Chong, Zhang, Xuxiao, Huang, Yinhua, Chang, Kin-Chow, Liu, Xiufan, Liu, Jinhua
Format: Article
Published: American Society for Microbiology 2016
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38539/
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author Sun, Honglei
Pu, Juan
Wei, Yandi
Sun, Yipeng
Hu, Jiao
Liu, Litao
Xu, Guanlong
Gao, Weihua
Li, Chong
Zhang, Xuxiao
Huang, Yinhua
Chang, Kin-Chow
Liu, Xiufan
Liu, Jinhua
author_facet Sun, Honglei
Pu, Juan
Wei, Yandi
Sun, Yipeng
Hu, Jiao
Liu, Litao
Xu, Guanlong
Gao, Weihua
Li, Chong
Zhang, Xuxiao
Huang, Yinhua
Chang, Kin-Chow
Liu, Xiufan
Liu, Jinhua
author_sort Sun, Honglei
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Since May 2014, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 virus has been reported to cause six severe 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. All four H5N6 viruses have acquired a binding affinity for human-like SA alpha 2,6Gal-linked receptor to be able to attach to human tracheal epithelial and alveolar cells. The emergent H5N6 viruses, which share high sequence similarity with the human isolate A/Guangzhou/39715/2014 (H5N6), were fully infective and highly transmissible by direct contact in ferrets but showed less-severe pathogenicity than the parental H5N1 virus. The present results highlight the threat of emergent H5N6 viruses to poultry and human health and the need to closely track their continual adaptation in humans.
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institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:35:13Z
publishDate 2016
publisher American Society for Microbiology
recordtype eprints
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spelling nottingham-385392020-05-04T20:02:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38539/ Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets Sun, Honglei Pu, Juan Wei, Yandi Sun, Yipeng Hu, Jiao Liu, Litao Xu, Guanlong Gao, Weihua Li, Chong Zhang, Xuxiao Huang, Yinhua Chang, Kin-Chow Liu, Xiufan Liu, Jinhua Since May 2014, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 virus has been reported to cause six severe 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. All four H5N6 viruses have acquired a binding affinity for human-like SA alpha 2,6Gal-linked receptor to be able to attach to human tracheal epithelial and alveolar cells. The emergent H5N6 viruses, which share high sequence similarity with the human isolate A/Guangzhou/39715/2014 (H5N6), were fully infective and highly transmissible by direct contact in ferrets but showed less-severe pathogenicity than the parental H5N1 virus. The present results highlight the threat of emergent H5N6 viruses to poultry and human health and the need to closely track their continual adaptation in humans. American Society for Microbiology 2016-07 Article PeerReviewed Sun, Honglei, Pu, Juan, Wei, Yandi, Sun, Yipeng, Hu, Jiao, Liu, Litao, Xu, Guanlong, Gao, Weihua, Li, Chong, Zhang, Xuxiao, Huang, Yinhua, Chang, Kin-Chow, Liu, Xiufan and Liu, Jinhua (2016) Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets. Journal of Virology, 90 (14). pp. 6235-6243. ISSN 1098-5514 http://jvi.asm.org/content/90/14/6235.long doi:10.1128/JVI.00127-16 doi:10.1128/JVI.00127-16
spellingShingle Sun, Honglei
Pu, Juan
Wei, Yandi
Sun, Yipeng
Hu, Jiao
Liu, Litao
Xu, Guanlong
Gao, Weihua
Li, Chong
Zhang, Xuxiao
Huang, Yinhua
Chang, Kin-Chow
Liu, Xiufan
Liu, Jinhua
Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title_full Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title_fullStr Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title_full_unstemmed Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title_short Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
title_sort highly pathogenic avian influenza h5n6 viruses exhibit enhanced affinity for human type sialic acid receptor and in-contact transmission in model ferrets
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38539/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38539/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38539/