Reassortants of H5N1 Influenza Viruses Recently Isolated from Aquatic Poultry in Hong Kong SAR

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Abstract
The H5N1 virus (H5N1/97) that caused the bird flu incident in Hong Kong in 1997 has not been isolated since the poultry slaughter in late 1997. But the donor of its H5 hemagglutinin gene, Goose/Guangdong/1/96-like (Gs/Gd/96-like) virus, established a distinct lineage and continued to circulate in geese in the area. In 2000, a virus from the Goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage was isolated for the first time from domestic ducks. Subsequently, it has undergone reassortment, and these novel reassortants now appear to have replaced Gs/Gd/96-like viruses from its reservoir in geese and from ducks. The internal gene constellation is also different from H5N1/97, but these variants have the potential for further reassortment events that may allow the interspecies transmission of the virus. Reordenamiento de los Virus de Influenza H5N1 Aislados Recientemente en Aves Domésticas Acuáticas en Hong Kong. El virus H5N1 (H5N1/97) que ocasionó el incidente de la “gripa de las aves” en Hong Kong en 1997 no ha sido aislado desde el sacrificio de las aves domésticas ocurrido en 1997. Sin embargo, el virus donante de su gen H5 al virus de 1997, un virus similar al virus Ganso/Guangdong/1/96, estableció un linaje diferente y continuó circulando en los gansos del área. En el año 2000 se aisló por primera vez un virus del linaje Ganso/Guangdong/1/96 a partir de patos domésticos. Posteriormente, este virus ha experimentado nuevos reordenamientos y los virus resultantes parecen haber desplazado a los virus similares al virus Ganso/Guangdong/96 de los gansos y patos, su reservorio natural. El grupo de genes internos parece ser también diferente a los presentes en el virus H5N1/97, sin embargo, estas variantes tienen el potencial para continuar su reordenamiento, lo cual podría permitir la transmisión de este virus a otras especies. Abbreviations: Dk = duck, Gd = Guangdong, Gs = goose, HA = hemagglutinin, HK = Hong Kong, NA = neuraminidase, WWFM = Western wholesale food market