Emergence of Fatal Avian Influenza in New England Harbor Seals

• Published in: mBio
• Main Authors: Anthony, S. J., St. Leger, J. A., Pugliares, K., Ip, H. S., Chan, J. M., Carpenter, Z. W., Navarrete-Macias, I., Sanchez-Leon, M., Saliki, J. T., Pedersen, J., Karesh, W., Daszak, P., Rabadan, R., Rowles, T., Lipkin, W. I.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: American Society of Microbiology 2012
• Subjects: Research Article; harbor seal
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3419516; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22851656; https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00166-12

From September to December 2011, 162 New England harbor seals died in an outbreak of pneumonia. Sequence analysis of postmortem samples revealed the presence of an avian H3N8 influenza A virus, similar to a virus circulating in North American waterfowl since at least 2002 but with mutations that indicate recent adaption to mammalian hosts. These include a D701N mutation in the viral PB2 protein, previously reported in highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses infecting people. Lectin staining and agglutination assays indicated the presence of the avian-preferred SAα-2,3 and mammalian SAα-2,6 receptors in seal respiratory tract, and the ability of the virus to agglutinate erythrocytes bearing either the SAα-2,3 or the SAα-2,6 receptor. The emergence of this A/harbor seal/Massachusetts/1/2011 virus may herald the appearance of an H3N8 influenza clade with potential for persistence and cross-species transmission.