Land-Based Birds as Potential Disseminators of Avian/Mammalian Reassortant Influenza A Viruses

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Abstract
Chickens, quail, and other land-based birds are extensively farmed around the world. They have been recently implicated in zoonotic outbreaks of avian influenza in Hong Kong. The possibility that land-based birds could act as mixing vessels or disseminators of avian/mammalian reassortant influenza A viruses with pandemic potential has not been evaluated. In this report, we investigated whether chickens and Japanese quail are susceptible to a mammalian influenza virus (A/swine/Texas/4199-2/98 [H3N2]). This virus did not grow in chickens and replicated to low levels in Japanese quail but did not transmit. Replacing the H3 gene of this virus for one of the avian H9 viruses resulted in transmission of the avian/swine reassortant virus among quail but not among chickens. Our findings demonstrated that Japanese quail could provide an environment in which viruses like the A/swine/Texas/4199-2/98 [H3N2] virus could further reassort and generate influenza viruses with pandemic potential. Resumen Aves de piso como diseminadoras potenciales de los virus reordenados de influenza tipo A de aves y mamíferos. Los pollos, las codornices y otras aves de piso son criadas ampliamente en todo el mundo y han sido implicadas recientemente en epidemias zoonóticas de influenza aviar en Hong Kong. La posibilidad de que estas aves puedan actuar como medios propicios para el reordenamiento o la diseminación de virus de influenza tipo A reordenados a partir de virus de aves y de mamíferos con un potencial pandémico no ha sido evaluada. Se investigó la susceptibilidad de los pollos y de las codornices a un virus de influenza de los mamíferos (A/cerdos/Texas/4199-2/98 [H3N2]). No se observó replicación viral en pollos. Sin embargo, se observó replicación viral en codornices, aunque a niveles bajos, pero sin transmitirse. El reemplazo del gen H3 de este virus por un gen H9 de virus aviares resultó en la transmisión del virus reordenado ave-cerdo entre las codornices mas no entre los pollos. Se demostró que las...