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. 2020 Sep 16;12(9):1031.
doi: 10.3390/v12091031.

Avian Influenza Virus Prevalence and Subtype Diversity in Wild Birds in Shanghai, China, 2016-2018

Ling Tang  1 , Wangjun Tang  1 , Xiaofang Li  1 , Chuanxia Hu  1 , Di Wu  2 , Tianhou Wang  1   3 , Guimei He  1   2
Affiliations

Avian Influenza Virus Prevalence and Subtype Diversity in Wild Birds in Shanghai, China, 2016-2018

Ling Tang et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

From 2016 to 2018, surveillance of influenza A viruses in wild birds was conducted in Shanghai, located at the East Asian-Australian flyway, China. A total of 5112 samples from 51 species of wild birds were collected from three different wetlands. The total three-year prevalence of influenza A viruses among them was 8.8%, as assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods, and the total prevalence was higher in Anseriformes (26.3%) than in the Charadriiformes (2.3%) and the other orders (2.4%) in the Chongmin wetlands. Anseriformes should be the key monitoring group in future surveillance efforts. The peak prevalence of influenza A viruses in Charadriiformes were in April and September, and in other bird orders, the peaks were in November and December. Twelve subtypes of haemagglutinin (HA; H1-H12) and eight subtypes of neuraminidase (NA; N1, N2, N4-N9) were identified in 21 different combinations. The greatest subtype diversity could be found in common teal, suggesting that this species of the bird might play an important role in the ecology and epidemiology of influenza A viruses in Shanghai. These results will increase our understanding of the ecology and epidemiology of influenza A viruses in wild bird hosts in eastern China, and provide references for subsequent surveillance of influenza A virus in wild birds in this area.

Keywords: eastern China; influenza A virus; surveillance; wild birds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Locations of sampling sites at which the wild birds were monitored in Shanghai, 2016–2018. Shanghai is located in the East Asian–Australasian migratory wild bird flyway, which is marked with a yellow background. The locations of sampling sites are displayed using stars.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Temporal variation of the overall number sampled and the avian influenza A virus (AIV) prevalence among wild birds during 2016–2018 in Shanghai. Data from 2016–2018 were pooled, the AIV positive rates were detected using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of haemagglutinin (HA) subtypes, neuraminidase (NA) subtypes and HA/NA subtype combinations during influenza A virus surveillance in wild birds in Shanghai, 2016–2018. (A) Number of HA subtypes; (B) number of NA subtypes; (C). Number of HA/NA subtype combinations. HA/NA subtype combinations (blue) were colored according to the frequencies of detection.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Correspondence plot showing the association between bird orders and HA, NA subtypes in two dimensions (singular value (SV)1 and SV2). All subtypes were detected during influenza A virus surveillance in wild birds in Shanghai, 2016-2018.
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