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. 2023 Oct 29:22:100319.
doi: 10.1016/j.vas.2023.100319. eCollection 2023 Dec.

First report and genetic characterization of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in Cabot's tern (Thalasseus acuflavidus), Brazil

Dilmara Reischak  1 , Anselmo Vasconcelos Rivetti Jr  2 , Juliana Nabuco Pereira Otaka  1 , Christian Steffe Domingues  1 , Talita de Lima Freitas  1 , Fernanda Gomes Cardoso  1 , Lucas Oliveira Montesino  1 , Ana Luiza Savioli da Silva  1 , Fernanda Malta  3 , Deyvid Amgarten  3 , Aristóteles Goés-Neto  4 , Antônio Fonseca de Oliveira  2 , Marcelo Fernandes Camargos  2
Affiliations

First report and genetic characterization of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus in Cabot's tern (Thalasseus acuflavidus), Brazil

Dilmara Reischak et al. Vet Anim Sci. .

Abstract

In 2021, the H5N1 virus lineage 2.3.4.4b spread to the Americas, causing high mortality in wild and domestic avian populations. South American countries along the Pacific migratory route have reported wild bird deaths due to A/H5Nx virus since October 2022. However, limited genomic data resulted in no cases reported in Brazil until May 2023. Brazil reported its first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI A/H5N1) in May 2023. The virus was detected in Cabot's tern specimen in Marataízes, Espírito Santo. Cases were also found in backyard poultry and other wild birds, but no human or commercial poultry cases occurred. HPAI poses risks to the poultry industry, food security, and public health. Researchers used next-gen sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to study the Brazilian sample. It confirmed its affiliation with the 2.3.4.4b clade and proximity to sequences from Chile and Peru. This sheds light on the spread and evolution of HPAI A/H5N1 in the Americas, emphasizing continuous monitoring to mitigate risks for both avian and human populations. Understanding the virus's genetics and transmission allows implementing effective control measures to protect public health and the poultry industry.

Keywords: Avian influenza virus; Brazilian first report; Complete genetic characterization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Nucleotide based phylogenetic relatedness of A/H5. Maximum likelihood and trees and Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano model (Hasegawa et al., 1985) of complete nucleotide sequences of segment 4 hemagglutinin were generated with MEGA X software version 11.0 (Kumar et al., 2018). Legend: OR269887 A/Thalasseus acuflavidus/EspiritoSanto/1339_N2/2023, AF148678 A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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