Contemporary North American influenza H7 viruses possess human receptor specificity: Implications for virus transmissibility

TY - JOUR

T1 - Contemporary North American influenza H7 viruses possess human receptor specificity: Implications for virus transmissibility

AU - Belser, Jessica A

AU - Blixt, Ola

AU - Chen, Li-Mei

AU - Pappas, Claudia

AU - Maines, Taronna R

AU - Van Hoeven, Neal

AU - Donis, Ruben

AU - Busch, Julia

AU - McBride, Ryan

AU - Paulson, James C

AU - Katz, Jacqueline M

AU - Tumpey, Terrence M

PY - 2008/5

Y1 - 2008/5

N2 - Avian H7 influenza viruses from both the Eurasian and North American lineage have caused outbreaks in poultry since 2002, with confirmed human infection occurring during outbreaks in The Netherlands, British Columbia, and the United Kingdom. The majority of H7 infections have resulted in self-limiting conjunctivitis, whereas probable human-to-human transmission has been rare. Here, we used glycan microarray technology to determine the receptor-binding preference of Eurasian and North American lineage H7 influenza viruses and their transmissibility in the ferret model. We found that highly pathogenic H7N7 viruses from The Netherlands in 2003 maintained the classic avian-binding preference for alpha2-3-linked sialic acids (SA) and are not readily transmissible in ferrets, as observed previously for highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses. However, H7N3 viruses isolated from Canada in 2004 and H7N2 viruses from the northeastern United States isolated in 2002-2003 possessed an HA with increased affinity toward alpha2-6-linked SA, the linkage type found prominently on human tracheal epithelial cells. We identified a low pathogenic H7N2 virus isolated from a man in New York in 2003, A/NY/107/03, which replicated efficiently in the upper respiratory tract of ferrets and was capable of transmission in this species by direct contact. These results indicate that H7 influenza viruses from the North American lineage have acquired sialic acid-binding properties that more closely resemble those of human influenza viruses and have the potential to spread to naïve animals.

AB - Avian H7 influenza viruses from both the Eurasian and North American lineage have caused outbreaks in poultry since 2002, with confirmed human infection occurring during outbreaks in The Netherlands, British Columbia, and the United Kingdom. The majority of H7 infections have resulted in self-limiting conjunctivitis, whereas probable human-to-human transmission has been rare. Here, we used glycan microarray technology to determine the receptor-binding preference of Eurasian and North American lineage H7 influenza viruses and their transmissibility in the ferret model. We found that highly pathogenic H7N7 viruses from The Netherlands in 2003 maintained the classic avian-binding preference for alpha2-3-linked sialic acids (SA) and are not readily transmissible in ferrets, as observed previously for highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses. However, H7N3 viruses isolated from Canada in 2004 and H7N2 viruses from the northeastern United States isolated in 2002-2003 possessed an HA with increased affinity toward alpha2-6-linked SA, the linkage type found prominently on human tracheal epithelial cells. We identified a low pathogenic H7N2 virus isolated from a man in New York in 2003, A/NY/107/03, which replicated efficiently in the upper respiratory tract of ferrets and was capable of transmission in this species by direct contact. These results indicate that H7 influenza viruses from the North American lineage have acquired sialic acid-binding properties that more closely resemble those of human influenza viruses and have the potential to spread to naïve animals.

KW - Animals

KW - Disease Models, Animal

KW - Ferrets

KW - Hemagglutination Tests

KW - Humans

KW - Influenza A Virus, H7N7 Subtype

KW - Influenza in Birds

KW - Influenza, Human

KW - Male

KW - Microarray Analysis

KW - N-Acetylneuraminic Acid

KW - Polysaccharides

KW - Poultry

KW - Receptors, Virus

KW - Virus Attachment

KW - Virus Replication

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0801259105

DO - 10.1073/pnas.0801259105

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 18508975

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 105

SP - 7558

EP - 7563

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 21

ER -