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. 2023 Dec;29(12):2528-2532.
doi: 10.3201/eid2912.230330. Epub 2023 Oct 26.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus-Induced Mass Death of Wild Birds, Caspian Sea, Russia, 2022

Ivan Sobolev, Alimurad Gadzhiev, Kirill Sharshov, Olesia Ohlopkova, Kristina Stolbunova, Artem Fadeev, Nikita Dubovitskiy, Alexandra Glushchenko, Victor Irza, Maxim Perkovsky, Kirill Litvinov, Natalia Meshcheriakova, Guy Petherbridge, Alexander Shestopalov

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus-Induced Mass Death of Wild Birds, Caspian Sea, Russia, 2022

Ivan Sobolev et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

In May 2022, we observed a substantial die-off of wild migratory waterbirds on Maliy Zhemchuzhniy Island in the Caspian Sea, Russia. The deaths were caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4.b virus. Continued surveillance of influenza viruses in wild bird populations is needed to predict virus spread over long distances.

Keywords: Caspian Sea; H5N1; HPAI virus; Maliy Zhemchuzhniy Island; Russia; clade 2.3.4.4.b; highly pathogenic avian influenza; influenza; mass death; outbreak; respiratory infections; viruses; waterbirds; wild birds; zoonoses.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Major bird migration flyways (A) and sampling area of birds (B) in study of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus–induced mass death of wild birds, Caspian Sea, Russia, 2022. Map of migration routes was provided online by the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership (https://www.eaaflyway.net/the-flyway). Yellow shading in panel A indicates the location of the Caspian Sea; red rectangles in both panels indicate sampling location of dead birds on Maliy Zhemchuzhniy Island.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic analysis of viruses isolated from 5 dead Caspian terns in study of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus–induced mass death of wild birds, Caspian Sea, Russia, 2022. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed for hemagglutinin gene segments. Black circles indicate highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A H5N1 virus strains isolated from the Caspian Sea region; black triangles indicate Egyptian-like HPAI virus strains from Russia isolated in 2020; red box indicates HPAI strains from Israel and Romania that were closely related to viruses from the Caspian Sea. Viruses belonging to clade 2.3.4.4b and B1 or B2 sublineages and those with hemagglutinin genes found in Europe are indicated. Sequences were obtained from the GISAID EpiFlu database (https://www.gisaid.org); identification numbers are provided. Scale bar indicates nucleotide substitutions per site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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